


Wolves in Pride Rock

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Mike Lu & Og, The Lion King (1994)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-06-22 07:28:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19662658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: Mike begins to feel unloved and unappreciated in Cartoon Network City, so she runs away from home. Unsure of where to go, she ends up lost in a jungle known as The Pridelands where she is in her wolf form, and meets King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi, and of course, little Simba. Despite being a wolf, the lions see her as family and she finally feels like she truly belongs with a family.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Heyo, what is up, guys? It is the PerkyGoth of the PerkyGoth14 stories series. This is a little treat I cooked up a bit as a gift for CartoonNetwork90sFan. I don't know how far this story will go, hopefully this first chapter was decent, if you guys ever get around to finding it. Also, if you're new to my stories, welcome! If OCs appear, I'll own them, but so far, everyone else belongs to their respective owners. This was an idea I'd been sitting on for a while, so I thought I'd upload this for around the time the live action Lion King movie comes out (even if I don't intend on seeing it in the theaters any time soon, sorry). Anyway, Read & Review!

It was a typical Friday evening at Cartoon Cartoon Fridays. All of the Cartoon Cartoons were standing together as it was now 11:00, which meant that the program was now over for the week and they would be back again the same day again at 7:00 just like it always was.

"That's it! Cartoon Cartoon Fridays is done, and I'm gonna get some shut-eye." Eustace said, a bit grumpily as the lights were being shut off for the week and everyone was about to go back home.

"I can see why Eustace doesn't host very often." Mike crossed her arms a bit.

"Eh, I guess it could be worse?" Eddy shrugged. "I don't know about him sometimes. Reminds me of my Granddad."

"Totally," Mike agreed before looking to the Eds. "So, you guys want me to come over with the snacks or what?"

"Yeah, bring pizza bagels," Double D smiled. "They're perfect."

"All right, pizza bagels it is," Mike smiled back. "I got some Dr. Pepper in my fridge."

"Sounds good, Mike, we'll see you in front of the hotel." Ed smiled.

"Thanks, big guy." Mike smiled back as she walked off.

Courage shivered as he was stuck on the F disc, but no one else seemed to see him there.

"Aww... Are you stuck, buddy?" Mike asked.

Courage whimpered and nodded to the young tomboy.

"All right, hang on, I'll be right there." Mike said, going off to get a ladder.

Sarah stumbled a bit as Mike ran into her before she then glared at the tomboy. "WATCH WHERE I'M GOING!" she then complained.

"Sorry, not sorry!" Mike replied since it was Sarah.

Sarah growled a bit. "Sure... Mike's gotta save the day... As usual..." she then muttered.

"There's no need for jealousy, Sarah." Lu rolled her eyes at the girl.

"Oh, psh, like you aren't jealous of Mike!" Sarah scoffed. "You're always trying to be better than her at everything, and you act like a spoiled princess all the time!"

"Sure, but even I have standards." Lu glared.

Mike then ran by with the ladder, accidentally hitting Lu with it on the way back to the F disc.

"Hey!" Lu cried out.

"Sorry, Princess!" Mike replied before putting up the ladder and she soon began to climb it. "All right, Courage, hang in there, buddy. I'm coming."

"Here I come to save the day." Sarah mocked Mike, rolling her eyes.

"If you're not gonna help, then get out of here!" Mike called to her.

"Let's see ya try to get outta this one!" Sarah smirked and soon kicked down the ladder while Mike climbed up to the F disc.

Mike soon knelt over to the cowardly dog, holding out her arms with a small smile. Courage shivered and whimpered before jumping into her arms, feeling safe already.

"All right, buddy, let's get you back to Muriel," Mike smiled, about to go down the ladder, but then saw that it fell over. "Huh? Hey!"

"See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya!" Sarah laughed as she ran off.

"Argh..." Mike grumbled.

Courage soon saw the way down and fainted in Mike's arms because of how high up they were.

"Ugh... Sarah!" Mike complained.

"What're you gonna do, tell your parents?" Sarah mocked. "Oh, wait, that's right. You don't have any!"

"Not everyone has parents..." Otto muttered a bit.

"Stay outta this, Snotto!" Sarah glared at him as she set off.

Otto looked anxious and soon grabbed the ladder to help Mike back down. "Hey, Mike! Come on down!" he then called out.

"Huh? Oh! Thanks! ...Uh... Oswald?" Mike replied.

"Otto!" Otto reminded her.

"Oh, right, sorry." Mike replied.

"Eh, it's okay, I guess," Otto shrugged as he held the ladder while Mike was carefully coming back down with Courage. "Don't let Sarah get to you."

"Eh, it's okay, Otto, I just try to ignore her," Mike replied. "Thanks for your help."

"What're friends for?" Otto smiled bashfully. "Uh... Erm... We can be friends, right?"

"Of course we can," Mike said as she made it down with Courage. "I better get Courage back home, then I gotta meet up with the Eds."

"Mind if I walk with you for a bit?" Otto asked.

Mike shrugged and then walked off with Otto out of the CCF studio. They were soon going down the street together to the Bagge household to drop Courage off before Mike would get to her home for the big sleepover with the Eds who were her best friends, next to Dee Dee of course.

"So, Otto, any plans this weekend?" Mike asked.

"Eh, I guess I'm just gonna travel through time with Larry and Tudrussel," Otto shrugged. "Ya know, that's my job and all."

"It sounds pretty cool," Mike replied. "Like a sci-fi movie."

"Uh, yeah, it is pretty cool, huh?" Otto smiled sheepishly. "I mean... We meet a lot of historical figures. Napoleon... Edgar Allen Poe... Beethoven... The list is endless!"

"Sometimes I wish I could travel through time... Or cross the border." Mike commented.

"Oh, but we're not allowed to do that," Otto then reminded her. "Weasel has a strict no border hopping policy, especially to Nicktropolis when you went there by accident."

"I know, Otto." Mike muttered as she already had that lecture.

"Heh... Sorry?" Otto blushed a bit.

"It's okay." Mike said before knocking on the front door as they made it on the Bagge porch.

"Oh... We're here already... Nice..." Otto blinked.

Mike nodded as they waited at the front door as she carried Courage in her arms.

"Say... Uh... Mike? I know that you're busy tonight, but... Maybe later this weekend or something... You and I could get a root beer together?" Otto spoke up softly with his hands behind his back as his foot shuffled on the floor. "I mean, if you want-"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" Eustace snapped as he came up to the door.

"You forgot your dog." Mike said, holding out Courage.

"Huh? Oh... Okay..." Eustace said as he took a hold of the cowardly dog. "You stupid dog! Couldn't you find your own way home?"

"Who's at the door, Eustace?" Muriel's voice asked.

"Just that Mazinsky kid," Eustace replied before glancing at Mike. "I guess you want some kinda reward, huh?"

"Eh." Mike shrugged, not expecting one from Eustace of all people, so she didn't pry, unlike Eddy who probably would've if he came with her.

"Good, 'cuz yer not gettin' one!" Eustace glared.

"Eustace, don't be rude," Muriel smiled, coming beside her husband. "Ah, little Mikey dear... Why don't ye come inside for a piece of pie?"

"No thank you, ma'am," Mike replied. "I have a sleepover with the Eds to get to."

"Oh, well, very well..." Muriel smiled. "Ye can come back any time ye like. Don't be a stranger."

"Blah, blah, blah." Eustace grumbled.

"Thanks, Mrs. Bagge, I better get going." Mike replied.

"All right, get to yer friends safely then." Muriel smiled before Eustace slammed the door.

Mike and Otto soon heard talking behind the door before they then heard the whamming of a rolling pin.

"What did I do?!" Eustace cried out.

"Same old, same old... I think I need a change of scenery..." Mike rolled her eyes before walking off.

"Uh, yeah..." Otto replied. "You need to get out of the city for a while."

"I dunno where I'd go though," Mike said, walking off. "Well, see ya later, Otto."

Otto let out a small grunt before sighing as he blew his chance with Mike. No one else knew this, but Otto had a bit of a crush on Mike, but he was always afraid to tell her and tried to find ways to impress her, but all of that seemed to fall on deaf ears. He also related a lot to her since they were both orphans and didn't have much of a family of their own, though technically, he had a family with Larry and Tudrussel while Mike stayed at the Cartoon Network Hotel since she had nowhere else to go or no one else to go to, but was always given offers from Lu and Og to stay with them and their parents on the island that was within distance of the city.

Eventually, Mike came to the hotel, grabbing her backpack, took a pillow, then carried a grocery bag of pizza bagels with a liter bottle of Dr. Pepper like she promised.

"Checking out?" The Red Guy asked her.

"You know very well I'm going out with my friends." Mike replied.

"Just checking," The Red Guy smirked. "You have fun with your boyfriends now."

"Ugh... It's not like that, ya sicko." Mike rolled her eyes as she left the lobby and went to get going to Ed's house.

Meanwhile, the Eds were getting ready for Mike to come over as Double D and Eddy had come over while Ed entertained them by telling them about the latest issue of Evil Tim. Eddy looked bored while Double D grinned politely since Ed wanted to talk about it. Eventually, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, thank grop!" Eddy then said so that Ed would stop talking about Evil Tim.

"Don't worry, Eddy," Ed smiled. "There's an Evil Tim movie marathon coming on later tonight. Mike will love that!"

"Excuse me while I find a container for my joy." Eddy grumbled.

"Oh, I think Sarah has jars for catching fireflies in you can borrow." Ed smiled innocently.

Eddy face-palmed from that.

"Hey, guys, sorry I'm a little late." Mike smiled as she came to see them.

"Mike!" The Eds beamed once they saw her.

"Let's get this sleepover started, huh?" Mike smiled.

Eventually, they had a lot of fun. They had their pizza bagels, watched some movies, played some video games, though Ed couldn't get past Level 1, and they even told some ghost stories. When Ed's mother heard them screaming and hollering from the ghost stories, it was then she decided they all had to go to sleep. Mike tried to brush off what Sarah said about being an orphan as she then woke up in the middle of the night and went to get a glass of water... Only to run into Sarah.

"Hey!" Sarah complained.

"We gotta stop meeting like this." Mike grumbled a bit.

"Don't tell me that, tell yourself that," Sarah huffed. "All you are is nothing but trouble."

"At least I'm not a spoiled brat who wants to make people as miserable as I am." Mike rolled her eyes.

"At least I have parents and a family!" Sarah retorted.

"Well, I feel sorry for them to have you in their family." Mike glared.

"You can't talk to me like that!" Sarah glared back. "You don't even belong on Cartoon Cartoon Fridays! Your show is so boring!"

"No, it's not!" Mike snapped.

"Is so!" Sarah glared. "Gilligan's Island died out a long time ago, what makes your show so special? What makes YOU so special anyway? You should just get out of here and never come back! Nobody would miss you anyway!"

"Just shut up!" Mike glared, feeling hurt, but tried to keep strong.

"Or what?" Sarah glared back. "I bet your parents just ran away after you were born. Maybe they are alive and they didn't even love you."

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Mike snapped, hitting Sarah in the face, but not with her hand, it seemed to be like a wolf claw.

"OWW!" Sarah yelled out, now having a scar over her left eye.

"What's going on out there?!" Ed's mother complained before clicking the light on. "Sarah! Baby! What happened?"

"She hit me for no reason!" Sarah cried out, pointing to Mike in blame.

Mike looked broken, inside and out. She didn't know what else to do and she soon ran off out of the house. Ed's mother called out for her, demanding for her to come back, but Mike didn't come back. Mike ran off on her own, and she soon stared up at the full moon, shaking a bit before she seemed to transform right then and there into her werewolf form. She felt very emotional right now, not sure what else to do, and once she was a full, orange-colored wolf, she then went back to running.

Mike didn't know where she was going, but she didn't look back as this had to be one of the worst nights of her life. She kept running that night, seeming to end up somewhere else as she ran fast enough to go into other places without realizing. Not even noticing if she ran into people or not, but she kept on running. To make matters worse, it seemed as though a trio of hyenas spotted her and soon began to chase her next.

Mike did then notice the hyenas, she could've taken them on if she wanted to, but she was very vulnerable right now as she didn't know what to do now. Sarah the spoiled brat was just making life harder for her, and now these hyenas she didn't know were on her tail.

"Hey, buddy, you from around here?" One hyena spoke up with a smirk.

"Yeah, why don't we help ya out?" Another hyena added with a female voice.

The third hyena soon laughed, not able to make a full sentence in speech.

"Look... I'm having a bad day... Just leave me alone!" Mike cried out to the hyenas.

"Ooh, stubborn, are ya?" The female hyena smirked. "We can fix that."

"No... Please... I don't wanna fight." Mike told them.

"Too late!" The vocal male hyena replied.

The three hyenas soon began to lunge out and attack Mike. Mike grunted and growled before she tried to fight them back.

"Such a shame, we're practically cousins, and you won't let us help you." The female hyena laughed.

The three hyenas soon laughed together until a golden blur shot over them. Mike soon laid still on the ground before looking over. She backed up a bit as she saw a golden lion with crimson red mane fighting the hyenas before she soon yelped and slipped backwards down a bit of a cliff before she then slid down and hit a rock, very hard, and then blacked out.

A little while later, the orange wolf heard a deep voice calling out to her. It was muffled and garbled a bit at first like she was underwater. Eventually, she opened her eyes as it was a bit blurry at first before she looked around to find herself in some sort of jungle and she looked up to see the lion who had saved her from the hyenas.

"Excuse me... Are you all right?" The lion asked her softly.

"I... I think so..." The wolf muttered a bit. "Ugh... My head..."

"Could you tell me who you are?" The lion asked.

"I... I... I..."

The lion looked concerned to the wolf, even if she was technically related to the hyena, but could see that she meant no harm to him.

"I... I don't remember." The wolf finally said to him.


	2. Chapter 2

"You don't remember your name?" The lion asked.

"I'm sorry, sir, I guess I hit my head pretty hard around here..." The wolf replied. "Uh... Where am I anyway?"

"This is The Pridelands," The lion informed her. "I am its king. King Mufasa."

"Mufasa... That's a fun name to say." The wolf remarked, chuckling as she liked how it sounded coming out of her mouth.

"I can't say I've seen an orange wolf before... I guess I'll have to give you a new name while you're here," Mufasa said as he examined the young wolf. "I think your name for right now shall be... Mwitu."

"Mwitu? ...Okay, I guess that's an alright name." The wolf shrugged as she had no choice since she didn't know her own name or how she even got here with no memory other than the hyenas trying to chase her and meeting this lion.

"Why don't you come along with me?" Mufasa suggested to the wolf, leading the way.

"All right, but, uh, where are we going?" The wolf asked, following him.

"To my home... Called Pride Rock." Mufasa replied.

The wolf could see that she had a lot to learn if she was going to be staying over in this place. 

"My brother might be around here somewhere." Mufasa said.

"Your brother?" The wolf replied.

"Yes, his name is Taka, but we all call him 'Scar'." Mufasa replied.

"Why do you call him that?" The wolf asked.

"Trust me; once you meet him, you will know." Mufasa told her.

"All right then." The wolf said.

They continued to walk off a bit before seeing a lioness who was a bit tan with her fur. 

"Sarabi, how are you doing?" Mufasa smiled.

"I'm doing just fine, excited too about being a mother," The lioness smiled back, nuzzling with him before seeing that they had company. "Oh! Um... Who is this, Mufasa?"

"Sarabi, this is our new guest, Mwitu," Mufasa informed. "Mwitu, this is my mate: Sarabi."

"Then, you must be the Queen?" Mwitu guessed.

"Yes, my dear, I am," Sarabi replied. "I can't say I've ever seen a wolf in this jungle before."

"She has no memory of where she came from, so I thought she could be an honorary member of our pride for the time being," Mufasa said. "Tell the other lionesses when you have the chance."

"I will," Sarabi smiled. "Also, Scar is waiting for you when you're ready."

"All right, I'll deal with him in a moment." Mufasa nodded.

Mwitu glanced over and saw that a golden lion cub was suckling against Sarabi a bit. Mufasa and Sarabi soon noticed her looking and gave small smiles.

"Is that your cub?" Mwitu asked with a small smile.

"Yes, this will be the next Lion King when the time comes," Mufasa replied. "This is our son: Simba."

"Simba... What a wonderful name." Mwitu replied.

Eventually, the cub finished taking some milk before glancing up at Mwitu curiously. 

"Hey, little fella..." Mwitu smiled. "My name is Mwitu."

Simba seemed to give a small smile while looking up to the wolf like he liked her already.

"He seems to like you already." Sarabi smiled from that.

"I'm sure he'll make a fine king someday, Your Majesties." Mwitu said to Mufasa and Sarabi.

"We really hope so," Mufasa smiled. "I can't wait to watch him grow and learn."

Mwitu smiled back as she looked to the lion cub who seemed to like her already. He held out his paw to her and she then put his paw against his as they became fast friends. A new friendship had been born as well as the future Lion King.

"Sire, who is this?" A voice asked before showing a blue bird which was a hornbill.

"Ah, Zazu, this is Mwitu, she will be staying in our pride for a little while," Mufasa informed. "Mwitu, this is Zazu, my majordomo."

"A wolf in Pride Rock?" Zazu asked. "I can't say this has ever happened before."

"Well, uh, Zazu, is it? It's nice to meet you." Mwitu replied.

"Yes, quite, good to meet you as well," Zazu said. "Um, Mufasa? Scar is here."

"Thank you, Zazu, I will be with him shortly," Mufasa replied. "Mwitu, perhaps you'd like to go with Zazu to see my brother."

Zazu looked uncomfortable about seeing Scar. Mwitu wasn't sure why as she didn't know Scar, but based on the hornbill's reaction, she could tell that it was not good. Perhaps there was more to this Scar than she thought there would be. Zazu didn't fight it, and soon went with Mwitu to go and meet Scar. Mwitu and Zazu talked on the way to go see Mufasa's brother.

"So, you're new to the Pridelands... That explains why I haven't seen you before," Zazu said. "And you have no memory of where you came from?"

"All I remember is being chased by those hyenas." Mwitu replied.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that... That sounds most unfortunate," Zazu said. "I'm not fond of those hyenas myself. As long as you stay in Pride Rock though, you'll be safe from them."

"Well, that makes me feel a little safe," Mwitu bore a small smile. "I guess it's better than nothing."

"Certainly, young wolf." Zazu replied.

Eventually, a mouse was shown to be exiting a den before wandering around only for a brown paw to swat down on it, showing a lion with a black mane, yellow eyes with green iris as he picked up the mouse by its tail, showing a scar over his left eye. 

"Life's not fair, is it...?" The lion drawled as he dangled the mouse, grasping it as it kept trying to escape from his clutches. "You see, I, will never be king. And you... Shall never see the light of another day... Adieu!" he then opened his mouth to eat the mouse.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?" Zazu asked as he gave a firm look to the adult male lion.

Scar sighed as he glanced over to see him along with Mwitu. "What do you want?" he then noticed the wolf. "And who is this?"

"I'm here to announce that King Mufasa's on his way, so you better have a good excuse for missing the ceremony this morning," Zazu replied. "This is also Mwitu: Mufasa and Sarabi's guest who will be staying in the Pridelands until further notice."

"You must be Scar." Mwitu guessed as she noticed that the lion had a scar over his eye which must have been why they called him that.

"That would be me... A wolf in the Pridelands... How very curious," Scar replied until he soon saw the mouse scamper away from his clutches in an instant. "Now look, Zazu, you made me lose my lunch."

"Ha! You'll lose more than that when the king gets through with you," Zazu smirked. "He's as mad as a hippo with a hernia."

"I'm not sure if I want to imagine that." Mwitu commented to herself.

"Oh... I quiver with FEAR..." Scar grinned darkly towards Zazu.

"Hey! You better not do what I think you're gonna do!" Mwitu glared at the lion.

"Now, Scar, don't look at me that way!" Zazu panicked as he tried to fly away. "HEEEELP!"

Scar soon grabbed Zazu into his mouth.

"Hey!" Mwitu complained. "What'd he ever do to you?"

Scar pretended to ignore her until he heard his brother's voice. 

"Scar?" Mufasa demanded sharply. "Drop him."

"Impeccable timing, Your Majesty." Zazu's beak said, coming out from Scar's mouth.

Mwitu chuckled, only a little, because that looked kind of funny. Scar then spat out the hornbill which made him groan in disgust.

"You okay?" Mwitu asked Zazu.

"I... I think so..." Zazu groaned. "I've been through worse, especially when I was younger."

Mwitu gently patted him on the head to comfort him.

"Oh... Thank you." Zazu said, appreciating the comfort.

"Why, if it isn't my big brother descending from on high to mingle with the commoners?" Scar greeted warmly, but Mwitu could tell that it was sarcastic.

"Sarabi and I didn't see you at the presentation of Simba." Mufasa stated sharply.

"That was today? Oh, I simply feel awful..." Scar said, scratching his claws on the wall which made an unpleasant sound for both Mwitu and Zazu as they cringed before he smirked to his claws. "Must've slipped my mind."

"Yes, well as slippery as your mind is as the king's brother, YOU should've been first in line!" Zazu glared as he flew in front of the lion.

Scar chomped the air in front of him to scare of Zazu before glaring down at the hornbill who hid behind his brother's legs. "I WAS first in line until the little hairball was born." he then remarked.

"That hairball is my son and your future king." Mufasa stated to his brother.

"So there." Mwitu smirked a bit.

"Oh, I shall practice my curtsy." Scar replied as he went to leave the cave.

"Don't turn your back on me, Scar!" Mufasa scolded.

"Oh, no, Mufasa," Scar replied. "Perhaps you shouldn't turn your back on me."

Mufasa roared as he snapped at his brother. "IS THAT A CHALLENGE?!"

"Temper, temper," Scar replied. "I wouldn't dream of challenging you."

"Pity," Mwitu scoffed. "Why not?"

"Well as far as brains go, I've got the lion's share, but when it comes to brute strength, I'm afraid I'm at the shallow end of the gene pool." Scar defended as he began to leave into the grasslands.

"Ugh... I don't know why, but I feel like I can't trust that guy." Mwitu commented.

"Well, you know, there's one on every side... Two in mine actually." Zazu replied.

"Huh? Whatya mean?" Mwitu asked.

"The black sheep of the family." Zazu explained.

"Hm... Black sheep... Somehow I feel like I know someone who would know how that feels." Mwitu commented as she seemed to have a thought bubble of Cow and Chicken back home with their cousin, Black Sheep, who was actually very nice, polite, and smart, though everyone thought he was a bad guy because of his name and species, even if she didn't really remember them.

"Ah, yes... They always manage to ruin special occasions." Zazu then nodded as he came toward Mufasa.

"What am I going to do with him?" Mufasa sighed to himself.

"He'd make a very handsome throw rug." Zazu smirked.

"Zazu!" Mufasa replied, though sounded amused from that.

"And just think," Zazu continued, "Whenever he gets dirty, you can take him out and beat him."

Mufasa chuckled to that as Zazu followed him. Mwitu smiled from that and decided to explore the Pridelands for a bit, meeting the other lionesses in the pride.

"So, you're a wolf in Pride Rock... How very curious." One lioness remarked.

"I know it's strange... But I promise, I'm friendly and I won't attack." Mwitu replied.

"I'm sorry you lost your way back home, but you seem like a nice wolf," The lioness smiled. "My name is Sarafina by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Sarafina," Mwitu smiled back, feeling a real motherly touch in this lioness. "Do you have any cubs of your own?"

"As a matter of fact, I do," The lioness replied. "Her name is Nala."

"Nala... What a beautiful name..." Mwitu smiled. 

"Perhaps someday, you can play with Nala and Simba." Sarafina suggested.

"I would like that," Mwitu smiled. "Um... So how do you feel about that Scar fellow?"

"Ugh..." Sarafina shuddered a bit. "I know he's the king's brother, but I feel like I can't trust him."

"So it's not just me," Mwitu replied. "Something's telling me not to trust him either."

"I believe that's a wolf sense," Sarafina said. "Members of the canine family seem to have an excellent judge of character."

"Heh, thanks, Sarafina," Mwitu replied. "I think I'm gonna like hanging around Pride Rock for a little while."

"I hope that you do." Sarafina smiled.

Mwitu smiled back as she settled into Pride Rock pretty decently. Some time had passed as she came to stay with Mufasa, Sarabi, and of course, little Simba. Eventually, Simba had grown up a bit and was now old enough to run around, play, and talk, becoming like a little brother figure for Mwitu in her new family. One day came which was before sunrise as Simba rushed to go see his father as today was an important day for him.

"Dad! Dad! Come on, Dad, wake up, we gotta go! Dad!" Simba called out, running into the den where Mwitu and the lions were sleeping, jumping onto one lion before coming beside his father. "Oh, sorry. Dad? Dad! ...Dad..."

"Your son is awake." Sarabi smirked in her sleep.

"Before sunrise, he's your son." Mufasa retorted sleepily.

"Dad! Dad!" Simba continued, pulling on his father's ear before falling back against Mwitu, waking her up now before he then headbutted against Mufasa. "Dad! You promised!"

Mufasa eventually woke up to see his son before waking up then. "Okay, okay, I'm up... I'm up..." he then said.

"And now I am too." Mwitu mumbled as she decided to wake up with the lion family.

"Yeah!" Simba beamed out of excitement, running off. "Mwitu, come on, you can see this too!"

Mufasa and Sarabi yawned as they woke up to go and join Simba out to see something very important. Sarabi smiled as she stayed behind while her mate, son, and adoptive daughter would go out together on the end of Pride Rock as the sun began to rise to start a new day in the Pridelands.

"You kids have fun now." Sarabi smiled.

"Thanks, Sarabi; I'm sure we will." Mwitu smiled back.

Sarabi smiled as they soon came to look out into the Pridelands together. 

"Look, Simba," Mufasa informed. "Everything the light touches is our kingdom."

"Wooow!" Simba and Mwitu beamed.

"A king's time as ruler rises and falls like the sun,"Mufasa explained. "One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here and will rise with you as the new king."

"Pretty neat." Mwitu commented.

"You mean this will all be mine?" Simba asked his father.

"Everything." Mufasa nodded.

"Everything the light touches..." Simba told himself before looking over to one place. "What about that shadowy place?"

"That's beyond our borders," Mufasa replied. "You must never go there, Simba. Mwitu, I expect you to follow the same orders if you're going to live here."

"Um, yes, sir." Mwitu replied. 

"But I thought a king can do whatever he wants?" Simba said to his father.

"Oh, there's more to being king than getting your way all the time." Mufasa informed.

"There's more?" Simba beamed from excitement.

"Simba..." Mufasa chuckled from his excitement.

They soon left Pride Rock and continued to explore as there were some antelope which galloped along together in the plains.

"Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance," Mufasa continued to explain to Simba as Mwitu followed them. "As king you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope."

"But Dad, don't we eat the antelope?" Simba replied out of confusion as antelope were their prey.

"Not to mention zebra, wildebeest, warthog, cape buffalo..." Mwitu added as she listed from the Food Chain.

"Yes, but let me explain," Mufasa replied. "When we die, our bodies become the grass and the antelope eat the grass, and so, we are all connected in the great circle of life."

"Sounds like a great lesson for later." Mwitu remarked.

"Yes, I think it's a great lesson to learn from as I learned it myself as a cub." Mufasa replied.

"Good morning, Sire!" Zazu greeted as he flew over, perching onto a rock in front of them.

"Good morning, Zazu." Mufasa greeted back.

"Checking in with the morning report." Zazu said.

"Fire away." Mufasa allowed, prompting Zazu to report to him the daily morning report. 

"Well, the buzz from the bees is that the leopards are in a bit of a spot." Zazu began.

"Oh, really?" Mufasa replied.

Simba soon got distracted and tried to go after a grasshopper which seemed more interesting than Zazu's news. 

"Whatcha doin'?" Mwitu asked Simba.

"Pouncing." Simba replied as he seemed to have some trouble.

"Pouncing, huh?" Mufasa asked.

Mwitu looked nervous, worried they would get into trouble.

"Let an old pro show you how it's done." Mufasa grinned to them.

"I told the elephants to forget it, but they can't--" Zazu soon continued rambling as no one seemed to be listening to him anymore.

"Zazu, would you turn around?" Mufasa requested.

"Yes, Sire." Zazu replied as he did just that, not even questioning it as he continued to deliver the morning report.

"Stay low to the ground." Mufasa advised Simba while Mwitu would watch.

"Cheetahs never prosper!" Zazu continued.

"Okay, stay low to the ground..." Simba whispered to himself.

Mwitu nodded as she copied for when she would pounce for herself sometime in the future.

"What's going on?" Zazu soon asked.

"A pouncing lesson." Mufasa replied.

"Oh, very good. Pouncing..." Zazu said before panicking. "POUNCING?! Oh, no, Sire, you can't be serious!"

Mufasa smirked, making him turn around.

"This is so humiliating..." Zazu groaned as he turned back around in dismay.

"Try not to make a sound." Mufasa then told Simba.

"What are you telling them, Mufasa?" Zazu asked before seeing that he seemed to be all alone. "Mufasa? Simba? ...Mwitu?"

Then, out of nowhere, Simba leaped forward and pounced on Zazu, sending him off the rock and onto the dirt. Mufasa and Mwitu soon laughed out loud to that while Zazu looked a bit traumatized.

"That's very good!" Mufasa said with a chuckle to Simba.

"Zazu." A gopher said, coming out from the ground.

"Yes?" Zazu replied.

"Sir, news from the underground." The gopher informed with a salute.

"Now... This time..." Mufasa said between laughs to Simba and Mwitu.

"SIRE! HYENAS!" Zazu soon panicked. "IN THE PRIDELANDS!"

Mufasa soon went off as this was more important. "Zazu, take Mwitu and Simba home." he then demanded.

"Aw, Dad, can't we come?" Simba pouted.

"No, Simba." Mufasa replied as he went off to take care of the hyenas.

"Ugh..." Simba scoffed as he walked off. "I never get to go anywhere."

"Well, you got to have a look around Pride Rock with me," Mwitu replied. "Maybe I could take you out to the Pridelands?"

"I'm sorry, Mwitu, but you cannot do that," Zazu told the wolf. "If you're going to live in Pride Rock, you should abide King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi's rules."

"Yes, Zazu." Mwitu groaned as that felt a bit unfair.

"And don't you worry, Young Master," Zazu then told Simba, flying him and Mwitu and back to Pride Rock. "One day you will be king and you can chase those slobbering, mangy, stupid poachers from dawn until dusk."

"Sounds good to me... I hate those guys," Mwitu replied. "They tried to make me into one of them."

"Well, let's hope that you don't ever do that," Zazu said. "They scare me a little."


	3. Chapter 3

As Zazu brought Simba and Mwitu back into Pride Rock, the two soon wandered a bit.

"So, Simba, whatcha wanna do?" Mwitu asked.

"Hmm... I dunno..." Simba shrugged. "What do you wanna do?"

"Ah, don't start that now," Mwitu smirked a bit with a light chuckle. "Hmm... What can we do?"

"I think Nala's with her mom right now." Simba said.

"Hmm... What to do? What to do?" Mwitu asked.

"Hey, look!" Simba soon saw someone close by. "There's Uncle Scar! I'm gonna go tell him about me being king someday."

"You do that, kiddo." Mwitu smiled to humor him.

Scar walked off a bit on his own before swatting away a bone as he seemed to be in a bit of a dark and gloomy mood.

"Hey, Uncle Scar, guess what?" Simba beamed to his uncle.

"I despise guessing games." Scar growled, rolling his emerald eyes.

"I'm gonna be King of Pride Rock." Simba announced.

"As in the King of the Jungle." Mwitu added.

"Oh, goody." Scar muttered.

"My dad just showed me the whole kingdom and I'm gonna RULE it all." Simba told him with an excited chuckle.

"Yes, well, forgive me for not leaping for joy," Scar said to his young nephew before he plopped down onto the ground. "Bad back, you know."

"Hey, Uncle Scar," Simba said, running up curiously to him. "When I'm king, what'll that make you?"

"A monkey's uncle." Scar spat out.

Simba laughed to that like it was a joke. "You're so weird."

"You have no idea," Scar smirked a bit before he soon stood up again, walking off from the cub. "So, your father showed you the whole kingdom, did he?"

"Yeah, he showed me too." Mwitu added.

"He didn't show you what's behind that rise of the northern border?" Scar then asked.

"Well, no," Simba pouted. "He said we can't go there."

"And he's absolutely right. It's FAR too dangerous," Scar replied. "Only the bravest animals go there." 

"Well, we're brave," Simba replied. "What's out there--"

"I'm sorry, children, but I just can't tell you." Scar told the lion cub and young wolf.

"Why not?" Mwitu asked. "I'm apart of this family too, you know."

"Oh, you two... I'm only looking out for my favorite nephew." Scar said, putting his paw over Simba's head.

"Yeah, right!" Simba scoffed a little. "I'm your only nephew."

"All the more reason for me to be protective," Scar defended before covering his mouth with his paw. "An elephant graveyard is no place for a young prince. OOPS!"

"An elephant what?! Whoa!" Mwitu and Simba replied in amazement.

"Oh, dear, I've said too much!" Scar replied in regret. "Well, I suppose you'd find out sooner or later, you being so clever and all."

Simba looked determined to explore.

"Just do me one favor," Scar told them as he held onto Simba closely to warn him and Mwitu. "Both of you promise me you'll never visit that dreadful place."

Simba paused a bit before answering his uncle. "No problem."

"Don't worry, Scar, we'll stay close to Pride Rock." Mwitu added.

"There's some good cubs," Scar said to them, letting them go free. "You run along now, and have fun, and remember... It's our little secret."

Simba and Mwitu nodded and soon ran off together from the cliff.

"Mwitu, we gotta tell Nala about this." Simba said.

"What?! But, Simba, we promised your uncle--" Mwitu replied.

"What's wrong?" Simba smirked. "You scared?"

"What? Heck, no!" Mwitu snorted. "It's just that something's telling me not to go near that Elephant Graveyard place. We wolves have very strong and reliable senses with trust and smarts."

"Well, my lion instinct is telling me to go out there," Simba replied. "Maybe you'd rather like to stay with the babies like Nala's brother, Mheetu."

"I am not a baby." Mwitu narrowed her eyes.

"Prove it then," Simba smirked before he ran off. "I'm gonna go talk with Nala."

Mwitu watched him go before narrowing her eyes and came to follow him. "Oh, you asked for it, Simba."

Simba chuckled. "Welcome aboard."

Mwitu rolled her eyes a bit as she followed Simba to go and see Nala.

Eventually, they ended up deep in the jungle where the adult lionesses were shown to be sleeping and relaxing. Nala was shown to be there with her mother, though she was slightly busy at the moment.

"Hey, Nala." Mwitu and Simba greeted.

"Hey, guys." Nala smiled to them.

"Come on," Simba whispered to Nala. "Mwitu and I just heard about this great place."

"Simba, I'm kinda in the middle of a bath." Nala replied in annoyance.

"And it's time for yours~" Sarabi's voice smirked before she soon grabbed her son before he could escape and began to lick him clean.

"MOM!" Simba complained. "Mom, you're messing up my mane!"

"That's a good look for ya." Mwitu chuckled to him.

Sarabi gave a small smile to Simba.

"You never do this to Mwitu!" Simba complained.

"That's cuz I can clean myself, thank you." Mwitu told him.

"Ugh..." Simba groaned, flattening the top of his head a bit with his paw. "Okay, okay, I'm clean, can we go now?"

"So, where are we going?" Nala asked as Sarafina continued to lick her cub clean. "It better not be any place dumb."

"No, it's really cool." Simba told her.

"So, where is this really cool place?" Sarabi smirked a bit suspiciously.

"Erm... Uh... By the water hole?" Mwitu replied, trying to cover up the truth.

"Uh, yeah, what she said!" Simba quickly added.

"The water hole?!" Nala scoffed. "What's so great about the water hole?!"

"We'll show you when we get there." Simba whispered loudly to hint to her.

"Ohh..." Nala replied before smiling innocently to her mother. "Mom, can I go with Simba?"

"Hmm... What do you think, Sarabi?" Sarafina then asked her fellow mother.

"Well..." Sarabi paused.

"Please?" Simba and Nala grinned innocently.

"I'll watch over them, Sarabi, I promise." Mwitu added.

"It's alright with me." Sarabi then allowed.

Simba and Nala then cheered as they went to run off, but the next thing that Sarabi said made them stop in their tracks in strong dismay.

"As long as Zazu goes with you." The lion queen then said.

"No! Not Zazu!" Simba groaned in annoyance.

Eventually, Mwuti walked down a path with Simba and Nala as Zazu flew ahead of them.

"Step lively," Zazu told the young animals. "The sooner we get to the water hole, the sooner we can leave."

"So, where are we really going?" Nala whispered to Simba and Mwitu.

"An elephant graveyard." Simba whispered back.

"WOW!" Nala beamed.

"Shh! Girl, keep it down!" Mwitu whispered loudly.

"Right..." Nala replied, whispering back. "So how are we gonna ditch the dodo?"

Mwitu soon stood close with Simba and Nala as they began to whisper a plan to each other.

"Oh, just look at you two," Zazu smiled as he saw them whispering before flying in front of them. "Little seeds of romance blossoming in the Savanna. Your parents will be thrilled, what with you being betrothed and all."

"Be what...?" Simba asked out of confusion.

"Betrothed," Zazu explained. "Intended... Affianced..."

Simba and Nala still looked confused.

"Ugh... He means someday you two are gonna get married." Mwitu explained to the lion cubs.

"Yuck!" Simba groaned.

"Ew!" Nala added.

"Aren't they a little too young to be thinking about marriage, Zazu?" Mwitu asked.

"Yeah, I can't marry her," Simba added. "She's my friend."

"Yeah... It'll be so weird." Nala shuddered.

"Well, sorry to bust your bubble, but you two turtle doves have no choice," Zazu told the lion cubs. "It's a tradition, going back generations."

"Well, when I'm king, that'll be the first thing to go." Simba smirked.

"Not as long as I'm around." Zazu replied.

"Well, in that case, you're fired." Simba smirked.

Mwitu let out a small laugh to that.

"Nice try, but only the king can do that." Zazu smirked back to Simba.

"Well, he's the future king." Nala pointed out.

"Yeah! So you have to do what I tell you." Simba smirked to the hornbill.

"Not yet I don't, and with an attitude like that, I'm afraid you're shaping to be a pathetic king indeed." Zazu glared as he felt annoyed with the cubs right now and the feeling was mutual.

"Not the way I see it," Simba smirked before approaching Zazu. "I'm gonna be a mighty king, so enemies beware~"

"Well, I've never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair~" Zazu retorted, plucking a hair from Simba's head.

"I'm gonna be the main event like no king was before~," Simba sang as he wore a leafy mane which looked like his father's mane. "I'm brushin' up on looking down, I'm working on my ROAR!~"

This made Zazu land in a mud puddle, trying to wash his face, not realizing it was an elephant ear he was using. "Thus far a rather uninspiring thing~"

The elephant then whacked the hornbill away with his trunk, sending the bird skipping down a pond like a skipping rock.

"Oh, I just can't wait to be king!~" Simba sang out of excitement.

"You've rather a long way to go, Young Master, if you think..." Zazu scolded Simba.

"No one said do this... No one said be there~..." Mwitu sang as Simba and Nala made faces at Zazu when he wasn't looking, trying to interrupt.

"What I meant was--" Zazu spoke up.

"No one saying 'Stop that!'~" Mwitu continued.

"What you don't realize--" Zazu replied.

"No one saying 'see here'!~" Simba and Nala sang before running off with Mwitu.

"NOW, SEE HERE!" Zazu cried out, but two ostriches ran past him, splashing him in the process.

Simba, Nala, and Mwitu soon rode on their backs.

"Free to run around all day~" Simba smiled.

"Well, that's definitely out." Zazu glared.

"Free to do it all your way!~" Mwitu sang to Simba.

Zazu flew as fast as he could, trying to catch up with the two energetic cubs. After flying past a line of swaying trees, he flew in front of the ostriches.

"I think it's time that you and I arranged a heart-to-heart!" Zazu demanded, but soon smashed into a rhino's butt since he wasn't watching where he was going. 

"Kings don't need advice from little hornbills for a start~" Mwitu sang.

"If this is where the monarchy is heading COUNT ME OUT!~" Zazu sang, not noticing he was about to go down a waterfall. Out of service out of Africa, I wouldn't hang about, These children are getting wildly out of wing~"

"Oh, I just can't wait to be king!~" Simba sang as he ran off with Nala and Mwitu, passing by a bunch of zebras.

Zazu came toward them and the zebras turned their backs on him which made him flinch a bit. Zazu soon flew overhead as the three young animals passed by stomping elephants, being more careful in their steps so they wouldn't get squashed.

"Everybody look left~" Mwitu sang as a herd of animals came running to the left, tramping over Zazu in the process and even the other way. "Everyone look right~"

"Everywhere you look I'm STANDING SPOTLIGHT!~" Simba then sang.

"NOT YET!" Zazu glared, before he got hit by two other animals.

Simba then whispered to some animals before the monkeys grabbed Zazu and tossed him in the air while the other animals began to sing for their future Lion King before making a tower. 

"Let every creature go for broke and sing, Let's hear it in the herd and on the wing, It's gonna be King Simba's finest fling~" The animals began to chorus. 

"OH, I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO BE KING! OH I JUST CAN'T WAIT TO BE KING!~" Everyone sang together before the animal tower began to fall. "Oh, I JUST CAN'T WAIT... TO BE KIIIINNNNGGGG!~" 

Zazu found himself underneath the rhino that was holding up the animals and before he could do anything, the rhino sat down as the other animals ran off and the young animals seemed to be gone. "I beg your pardon, madame, but... GET! OFF!" The hornbill muffled as he was trapped. "Simba? Mwitu? Nala!"


	4. Chapter 4

The young wolf and the lion cubs laughed as they soon ran off together as they escaped from Zazu.

"All right, it worked." Simba smiled.

"We lost him!" Nala added.

"I am a genius." Simba smirked.

"Hey, genius, it was my idea." Nala replied.

"Yeah, but Mwitu and I pulled it off." Simba smirked.

"With me!" Nala smirked back.

The two lion cubs then tackled each other before Nala came out on top of him.

"Heh. Pinned ya." Nala smirked to her friend.

"Hey! Let me up!" Simba complained, shoving her off of him.

Nala soon walked off in victory only for Simba to tackle her again as they came rolling off of the cliff into the dark and gloomy spot of the Pridelands which was out of the border.

Nala then pinned down Simba yet again with a smirk. "Pinned ya again."

"Hey, guys, wait for me!" Mwitu called out as she went to join them before looking around. "Wait... Isn't this the place Mufasa warned us about?" she then wondered.

Before anyone could say anything else, a geyser soon went off which made the young wolf and the lion cubs look over. They then came further into the land which was the forbidden Elephant Graveyard that Scar had told Mwitu and Simba about. They came up to a skeleton skull with giant tusks in front of them.

"This is it," Simba told Nala and Mwitu. "We made it."

The three animals came up to the tusks to take a closer look as they looked beyond the Elephant Graveyard with amazement. There were scattered bones all around in the dark and gloomy spot which looked quite creepy and disgusting.

"It's really creepy." Nala commented.

"Yeah, isn't it great?" Simba replied.

"We could get in big trouble." Nala then smirked.

"I know." Simba chuckled.

"This is cool and all, but I think we should go before we get in trouble." Mwitu advised.

"Aw, come on, Wolfy, walk on the wild side." Simba smirked. 

"I wonder if its brains are still in there?" Nala commented.

"There's only one way to know," Simba smirked as he came up towards the skull. "Come on. Let's go check it out."

However, before they could go any further, they soon saw Zazu which startled them a bit as the hornbill seemed to come from nowhere. "WRONG! The only checking out you will do would be to check out of here."

"Aw, man!" Simba groaned.

"We're way beyond the boundary of The Pridelands." Zazu warned, a bit nervously.

"Look, Banana Beak is scared." Simba smirked.

"It's Mr. Banana Beak to you, Fuzzy!" Zazu glared at the young lion prince. "And right now, we are all in very real danger!"

"Danger? HA! I walk on the wild side," Simba smirked as he came closer to the skull. "I laugh in the face of danger! HA, HA, HA, HA!"

There was then laughter from behind the skull which sounded a bit familiar to Mwitu right about now. Simba soon ran back toward Zazu, Nala, and Mwitu while the young wolf looked a bit nervous because those voices led her into Pride Rock in the first place.

"Well, well, well, Banzai, what have we got here?" The female hyena smirked to the two males behind her as she came in.

"Hmm... I dunno, Shenzi... What do you think, Ed?" The first male smirked back, looking to the final one.

The final hyena only answered with a bit of a zany laugh.

"Ed... Why does that name sound familiar?" Mwitu soon asked herself.

"Yeah, just what I was thinkin'," Banzai said to the other male hyena. "A trio of trespassers along with a leftover dish of a traitor!"

"I'm not a traitor!" Mwitu replied. "I don't even know you!"

"Ya could've come with us instead of these lions!" Banzai huffed. "We could've been a family with you! Hyenas and wolves hunt together, ya know!"

"We're here by accident, let me assure you," Zazu nervously told the hyenas as they wandered in and circled the group hungrily, trying to lead the others out. "A simple navigational error."

"Wait, wait, wait; I know you," Shenzi told Zazu, holding down his tail-feathers to keep him from flying off. "You're Mufasa's little stooge."

"I, madame, am the King's majordomo!" Zazu clarified.

"And what would that make you?" Banzai then asked Simba.

"The future king!" Simba glared.

"Do you know what we do to kings that step out of their kingdom?" Shenzi smirked to the cub.

"Bah! You can't do anything to me." Simba glared at the hyenas.

"Uh, technically they can," Zazu smiled nervously. "We are on their land."

"But Zazu, you told me and Mwitu that they were nothing but slobbering, mangy, stupid poachers." Simba said to the hornbill, making him more and more nervous around the hungry predators.

"Ix-nay on the upid-stay." Zazu warned quietly.

"WHO YOU CALLIN' 'UPID-STAY'?!" Banzai snapped from that.

"Nice going Future Lion King." Mwitu rolled her eyes to Simba.

"My, my, my... Whoa, look at the sun," Zazu said nervously as he tried to back out with the young animals. "It's time to go!"

"What's the hurry?" Shenzi smirked as she came in their way to keep them from going any further. "We'd love to have you stick around for dinner."

"Yeah... We could have whatever's... 'Lion Around'!" Banzai added before laughing.

The other hyenas soon laughed out loud to that.

"I got one. I got one," Shenzai said before laughing to herself. "Make mine a 'cub sandwich', whatcha think?"

The hyenas laughed again until Ed jumped up and gestured to the others to try to tell them something.

"What, Ed?!" Shenzi asked in annoyance.

"Hey, did we order this dinner to go?" Banzai asked Shenzi once he noticed something.

"No. Why?" Shenzi replied.

"'CUZ THERE IT GOES!" Banzai replied as Zazu flew away while Mwitu, Nala, and Simba ran the other way.

Mwitu, Nala, and Simba ran for their lives away from the hyenas, but Shenzi soon grabbed Zazu, pulling him back to the others.

"Did we lose them?" Nala asked scaredly.

"I think so..." Simba replied before looking around. "Where's Zazu?"

At the nearby geyser, the hyenas laughed like school bullies as they tormented Zazu a bit to make him go in the geyser.

"The little major-domo bird hippety-hopped all the way to the birdie boiler~" Banzai sang as he grabbed a hold of Zazu to put him in the geyser.

"Oh, no!" Zazu cried out before he was launched out of the geyser and was sent flying far, far away. "NOT THE BIRDIE BOILER! AAAAAUGH!"

The hyenas laughed from that.

"Hey!" Mwitu glared as she soon came back with Simba and Nala who also glared. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

"Like YOU?" Shenzi replied.

"Oops." Simba muttered.

Mwitu soon ran with Simba and Nala to make sure they would be safe as the hyenas soon scared them away. They ran all throughout the Elephant Graveyard.

"Oh, we really should've listened to that warning!" Mwitu cried out.

Nala was nearly caught by Shenzi, but Simba saved his friend and slashed the female hyena's face with his claws, making her growl. They continued to run and found a way up, bouncing on some dead skin to crawl away back to Pride Rock, but it soon ripped, and they fell flat on the ground as the hyenas soon found them in the dead end.

"Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty~..." Banzai grinned darkly with the other hyenas.

Simba looked worried, standing in front of Mwitu and Nala before he tried to growl at them, but being a little cub, it wasn't very scary. The hyenas laughed to that like it was a little joke.

"That was it?" Shenzi asked while laughing. "Do it again. Come on."

Simba soon took a deep breath to do another growl, but it sounded like an adult lion's growl. The hyenas looked confused from that only to get beaten and tackled by Mufasa who had come to the rescue. Zazu soon flew in beside Mwitu, Nala, and Simba.

"Oh, thank goodness... Mufasa..." Mwitu sighed in relief. "Remind me not to get on his bad side."

"Heh... Noted." Simba nodded nervously.

Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed nervously begged for mercy as Mufasa had them all pinned down.

"SILENCE!" Mufasa roared at them with narrowed eyes. "If you ever come near my son again..." he then began to threaten.

"Oh, this is your son?" Shenzi asked, acting surprised before looking to Banzai. "Did you know that?"

"No. Me? I didn't know!" Banzai replied. "Did you?"

"No, of course not!" Shenzi said. 

"Ed...?" Shenzi and Banzai then asked their friend.

Ed looked to them before nodding his head which made Mufasa roar at all of them. The hyenas shivered fearfully from that.

"Toodles!" Banzai grinned nervously before running off with Shenzi and Ed back to where they came from.

Zazu soon flew over to Mufasa and nodded to the lion king. Mufasa looked over to him as he was very furious right now. Mwitu and the cubs soon came up behind Mufasa as he glowered.

"Dad, I--" Simba spoke up.

"You deliberately disobeyed me." Mufasa glared.

Simba soon looked down as he was upset that his father was angry and felt guilty for the same reasons.

"Mufasa, it was my fault, I--" Mwitu said.

"Let's go home." Mufasa cut her off as he strode off first as the young wolf and the lion cubs soon followed him.

"I thought you were very brave." Nala whispered to Simba on the way out of the Elephant Graveyard.

They soon walked off, but unknown to any of them, they were being watched by a certain somebody. Who could it had been? We all had to wonder, but that would be an explanation for a later date.

Mufasa walked further ahead of the others with Zazu in the middle as Mwitu bowed her head with Simba and Nala on the way back to the Pridelands. Out of the three young animals, Simba felt the worst as he thought maybe his father would never trust him or love him anymore after what they had been through. All he wanted to do was to be a brave lion just like his father.

"Zazu?" Mufasa called sharply to the hornbill.

Zazu soon flew in front of him, looking up. "Yes, Sire?"

"Take Nala home," Mufasa replied as he looked back towards Simba and Mwitu. "I've got to teach my young ones a lesson."

Simba and Mwitu bowed their heads in the grass next to Nala. Ever since Mwitu ended up in Pride Rock, everyone saw her as an honorary lion even though she was a wolf and was pretty much a ward to King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi. They were like parents to her, though she very rarely called them 'Mom and Dad' which they understood, but loved her just the same, especially with being lost and possibly orphaned. Millions of thoughts ran through her mind and flooded her brain as the fear of Mufasa's tone consumed over her and Simba, wondering what would happen next.

"Come, Nala," Zazu told the female cub before facing the male cub and the young wolf. "Simba? Mwitu? Good luck." he then wished to them as he went to take the female lion cub back home.

Nala glanced back at her friends as she soon went back home with Zazu. Simba and Mwitu began to feel a little worse as they would be left alone with Mufasa.

"SIMBA! MWITU!" Mufasa sharply called which seemed to jolt the younger animals from their fears.

Mwitu walked over first as Simba followed after, though glanced down to his father's large paw-print. It seemed to make them feel even more nervous as they came toward the current lion king of the Pridelands as he looked out into the distance. Neither of them dared to speak until Mufasa would speak to them first.

"Simba, Mwitu, I'm very disappointed in you." Mufasa sharply told them.

"We know." Simba and Mwitu replied.

"You could've been killed!" Mufasa continued sharply. "You deliberately disobeyed me and what's worse, you put Nala in danger. Mwitu, Sarabi and I trusted you to look after Simba after you met him after his birth, and look at where it got you!"

"I'm sorry, Mufasa, but Simba was just trying to be brave like you." Mwitu said softly while Simba looked like he was going to cry.

"I'm only brave when I have to be," Mufasa said calmly to her, though mostly to Simba as this was fatherly advice. "Listen, being brave doesn't mean you go looking for trouble."

"But you aren't scared of anything." Simba said to his father.

"I was today." Mufasa replied.

"You were?" Simba and Mwitu asked.

"Yes," Mufasa said. "I thought I might lose you both."

"Hmm... I guess even kings get scared, huh?" Simba replied calmly then.

"Mm-hmm." Mufasa replied softly.

"But you know what?" Simba then smirked.

"What?" Mufasa asked.

"I think those hyenas were even 'scareder'." Simba replied.

Mwitu chuckled a bit from that which also made Mufasa laugh.

"Because nobody messes with your dad!" Mufasa smirked, grabbing his son to give him a noogie. "Come here, you!"

"No, no, AAUGH!" Simba cried out.

Mufasa then playfully let go of Simba before running. Simba then went to chase him as they both soon laughed and Mwitu went to go. She decided to leave the father and son alone and came in to go and see Sarabi.

"Thank goodness that you and Simba are alright," Sarabi told Mwitu. "Do you know how much trouble you could've gotten into being around the hyenas?"

"Yes, I know, Sarabi," Mwitu sighed. "I'm very sorry about that."

"It's all right... I'm just glad you're okay," Sarabi said. "You going to be okay?"

"Yeah, I think so... I was kinda scared that Mufasa would exile me or something." Mwitu replied.

"Oh, Mufasa would never do that," Sarabi shook her head. "Why don't you get some rest? You and Simba have both had long days."

"Yes, ma'am... Thank you." Mwitu said.

The two soon nuzzled together. Mwitu beamed as she loved the maternal feeling that came with Sarabi. She had to wonder 'Was this what it was like to have a mother?'. She couldn't remember that feeling either, but she could tell it felt something like Sarabi and her bonding like honorary mother and daughter despite the species difference. Eventually, everyone fell asleep. However Mwitu couldn't help but shake a very negative feeling. She felt like something bad was about to come. She wasn't sure if it was just a terrible nightmare or not, but it really bothered her.


	5. Chapter 5

The next day soon came. Mwitu was still fast asleep until she heard Simba calling out for her and pulling on her ears and tail to get her to wake up.

"Huh? What?" Mwitu muttered.

"Mwitu, come on," Simba smiled. "Uncle Scar says Dad has a surprise for us."

"A surprise?" Mwitu replied, rubbing one of her eyes. "It's not my birthday... I think..."

"Come on, we gotta go check it out, he's waiting for us." Simba told her.

"All right, I'll be right there." Mwitu smiled before yawning and stretching a bit.

"Alright!" Simba beamed before running off.

"You going with him then?" Sarabi asked the young wolf.

"I guess I should since he's like my little brother now," Mwitu shrugged. "Are you staying in today?"

"If Mufasa and Scar have you two, I guess I better stay with the other lionesses," Sarabi said. "And Mwitu, I want you to remember this: no matter what happens, Mufasa and I will always love you like one of the pride."

"Wow... Thanks, Sarabi..." Mwitu sounded touched. "That really means a lot coming from you."

"Well, I mean it," Sarabi smiled, nuzzling with her. "You run along now and see what's going on. I hope this is a great surprise."

"I hope so too, Sarabi." Mwitu smiled back as she went to go after Simba.

Scar soon met up with Simba and Mwitu. Mwitu wasn't sure why, but she felt like she saw Scar smirking as if he had something planned, but kept it to herself as she shook chills around her body. They came into the deep gorge, a little outside the Pridelands before they soon came with Scar to a rock as Simba sat on the rock.

"Now you wait here," Scar told his young nephew. "Your father has a marvelous surprise for you."

"Oh, what is it?" Simba asked curiously.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" Scar replied.

"If you tell us, we'll still act surprised." Mwitu smirked.

"Oh, you are such naughty children." Scar chuckled to them.

"Come on, Uncle Scar." Simba begged with a small and cute pout.

"No, no, no, no, no," Scar shook his head. "This is just for you, your new sister, and your daddy. You know, a sort of father-child thing. Well, I better go get him." he then said, going off a bit.

"We'll come with you." Mwitu said, about to follow after the adult male lion.

"NO!" Scar replied before looking innocent. "Uh... No. Just stay on this rock with Mwitu. You wouldn't want to end up in another mess like you did with the hyenas."

"You know about that...?" Mwitu and Simba asked softly.

"Children... Everybody knows about that." Scar replied.

"Really?" Simba asked.

"Oh, yes," Scar replied softly. "Luckily Daddy Mufasa was there to save you both, eh?"

"Yeah, I guess..." Mwitu sighed softly. "He is pretty much like the father I don't remember having."

"Lucky you," Scar nodded to her before thinking of something before speaking to his nephew. "Oh, and just between us... You might wanna work on that little roar of yours, huh?"

"Oh... Okay..." Simba said softly.

Scar nodded and soon went to leave them by themselves for the time being.

"Hey, Uncle Scar?" Simba spoke up which made his paternal uncle stop in his tracks briefly. "Will we like the surprise?"

"Children, it's to DIE for..." Scar replied as he walked away, leaving them under the tree.

"Why don't I like the way he said that?" Mwitu commented to herself.

Simba and Mwitu soon waited a bit. Mwitu sniffed a bit, looking around as she thought she smelled something.

"You okay?" Simba asked her.

"I smell... Other animals..." Mwitu replied. "Like a wildebeest. More than one... Almost like... A herd."

"They're probably grazing somewhere near here," Simba shrugged before grumbling about what Scar said to him. "'Little roar'... Puh!"

"Well, it was kind of puny against those hyenas last night..." Mwitu smirked. "I'll show you what a real howl sounds like against a lion roar. It's probably even bigger and stronger."

"You're really loud at night." Simba replied.

"Well, I am a wolf," Mwitu reminded. "We're better hunters at night."

"If you can remember all that, how come you can't remember anything about where you came from or who you even used to be?" Simba asked.

"I don't know, Simba... I guess it was just my animal instinct." Mwitu shrugged.

A lizard soon scampered on the ground. Simba soon looked to the reptile and soon tried to chase it with some roars. He failed a couple of times before he then let out a louder roar which echoed throughout the gorge.

"Hey, that was pretty good." Mwitu chuckled.

"Thanks." Simba smiled back.

However, suddenly, they both felt the ground rumbling a bit as it shook. They then heard more rumbling coming, though of course Mwitu heard it closer due to her special sense of hearing. Like Mwitu had predicted, there was soon an incoming wildebeest stampede coming right for them which horrified them.

"I hate to say I told you so, BUT RUN!!!" Mwitu soon yelped.

The young wolf and lion cub soon began to run for their lives. As the wildebeests stampeded down the canyon, the three hyenas looked down, watching Mwitu and Simba as they ran as fast as they could otherwise they would be trampled. 

Mufasa and Zazu were walking by themselves for a bit.

"Oh, look, Sire," Zazu pointed out. "The herd is on the move."

"Odd..." Mufasa commented.

"Mufasa! Quick!" Scar panted as he ran towards his brother. "Stampede in the gorge! Simba and Mwitu are down there!"

"Simba and Mwitu!" Mufasa gasped fearfully.

Simba and Mwitu continued to run as fast as they could away from the wildebeest stampede, blindly running forward in fear. Mwitu and Simba went onto a tree and Mwitu made sure that Simba would make it up there first and soon followed him, luckily making it on with him, but the lion cub dangled a bit. Zazu was flying above, looking out for the lion cub and the young wolf before he soon flew toward them.

"ZAZU, HELP US!" Simba and Mwitu cried out.

"Your father is on the way!" Zazu told them. "Hold on!"

"HURRY!" Simba and Mwitu replied.

Zazu soon went to Mufasa and Scar as the adult lions came to see what was going on. "DOWN THERE ON THAT TREE!" he then pointed out for them.

"Hold on, children!" Mufasa called out as he went into the wildebeest stampede to save the young lion cub and the young wolf from danger.

It was a very intense situation. Mwitu could feel her heart racing as she felt like death was near for her and Simba. She just hoped and prayed that the branch would hold onto them until Mufasa could bring them out to safety a bit easier.

"Oh, Scar, this is awful. What do we do, what do we do?" Zazu panicked as he flew by the other adult male lion before he suddenly got an idea. "I'll go back for help! That's what I'll do! I--" 

Scar then smacked the hornbill straight into the wall, knocking him out in both annoyance and frustration, almost as if he didn't want the bird's help. Mufasa kept rushing over to help Simba and Mwitu as the tree shook from the intensity. Mwitu held on as best as she could until Mufasa hit one wildebeest who then hit the tree which sent her and Simba flying in the air. Mufasa soon jumped up, catching Mwitu on his back while catching Simba in his mouth, and went to find a place to keep both of the young animals safe as this was no place to be for young animals like them. Mufasa soon let Mwitu onto a ledge and put Simba there with her until the wildebeest carried him off from their stampede.

"DAAAD!" Simba cried out.

"He's okay... He's okay..." Mwitu panted, trying to stay strong for Simba.

It seemed like Mufasa wasn't coming back for a while. The two young animals kept trying to look for the adult lion king within the bunches and bunches of wildebeest that passed by before Mufasa soon leapt out into the air and tried to climb up onto the rock wall. Simba and Mwitu went to go catch up with him as Mufasa struggled to keep himself up, but saw one last hope: his brother was looking down to him from on top of the wall.

"SCAR!" Mufasa cried out as he couldn't help himself. "Brother... Help me!"

Scar glanced down to his brother and soon grasped his paws with his claws which resulted in a roar of pain being heard. "Long live the King..." he then whispered darkly.

Mufasa's eyes widened in horror as he couldn't believe what his brother did next. Rather than helping him up, Scar then let go which sent Mufasa flying off of the wall to go back down into the gorge with the stampeding wildebeest with a very, very low chance of survival. Mufasa yelled out as this looked like the final chapter in his book of life.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Simba and Mwitu soon cried out for Mufasa as he fell to the ground.

Their screams of terror echoed a bit.

Eventually, the wildebeest passed by and the gorge was now safe to be crossed by the young animals. It was very dusty as they made it down.

"Dad...? Daaad!" Simba called out weakly.

"Mufasa... Where are you?!" Mwitu cried out in worry.

The two wandered around a bit, trying to find Mufasa, but it seemed like he was gone. They thought maybe he was coming, but it was just one wildebeest who ran to catch up with the others, but when they saw it going, they soon found the fallen lion king. They found Mufasa lying under a tree, but he didn't seem to be responsive.

"Dad? ...Dad, come on... You gotta get up..." Simba said, feeling broken inside as he tried to get his father up, but nothing could wake Mufasa up from his new eternal slumber. "Dad, you gotta come home..."

Mufasa didn't move or respond to any of that which only meant one thing.

"No... No, please..." Mwitu whispered to herself in dismay before she soon cried out. "HEEEELP! Somebody! Anybody! ...Help..." 

No one came as Simba and Mwitu were both alone. Simba broke down crying and Mwitu felt herself being punched in the stomach and her heart sank through her chest. She felt a lot of pain that came with mourning the loss of a loved one. Even though she didn't know Mufasa all her life, she grew attached to him like the father she may have never had. She felt even more heartbroken when she saw Simba approach Mufasa and wrap his father's paw around him as he didn't know what else to do.

Scar soon appeared from behind his young nephew. "Simba... What have you done...?" he then asked.

"I-It wasn't his fault, Scar..." Mwitu said, trying not to cry, but could barely speak from the very depressing state. 

"There were wildebeests... And he tried to save us..." Simba added as he felt the exact same way. "It was an accident... W-We didn't mean for it to happen!"

"Of course... Of course you didn't..." Scar said as he began to comfort his nephew while Mwitu merely bowed her head in depression. "No one ever means for these things to happen, but the king is dead. If it weren't for you and Mwitu, he'd still be alive."

Simba flinched as he felt scared and very sad from what his uncle said. Mwitu looked over as she looked just heartbroken and uneasy about this whole situation. 

"Oh... What will your mother think?" Scar then gasped to Simba.

"What are we gonna do?" Mwitu asked, her voice broken a bit, more raspy than usual due to the heartbreak she and Simba were forced to endure. 

"Run away, you two..." Scar told them. "Run away and never return!"

Simba and Mwitu didn't know what else to do, but they soon ran off. This situation began to look very familiar to Mwitu. She normally would've stopped Scar or call him out, but she was too sad about what happened that she blindly ran with the young lion cub with no other option. To make matter worse, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed soon came up behind them to chase them even further out of the Pridelands.

"Gah!" Mwitu whimpered like a sad puppy as she ran with Simba away from the hyenas.

This was indeed a terrible day for Simba and Mwitu as the hyenas kept coming after them. The two young animals soon climbed up a rock wall before tumbling down near a thorn bush, luckily missing it. They then kept running, not knowing where they were going, but it had to be better than back home since they were guilty of murder for King Mufasa. Mwitu still had tears in her eyes as she just felt like life was unfair and she would probably never be happy ever again. Something about this situation was very familiar too: running away from a new beloved home only to be thrown out just like that. 

"Whoa!" Banzai yelped as he tried to stop and skid against the ground, luckily stopping himself and sighed in relief.

However, Shenzi came up behind him along with Ed which then pushed him into the thorn bush. The other two hyenas soon laughed at his misfortune before he came out, looking very pained and aggravated. 

"Oh, there they go!" Shenzi soon called out. "There they go!"

"So go get them!" Banzai grunted, trying to get some thorns out of his backside.

"There ain't no way I'm goin' out there!" Shenzi scoffed. "What, you want me come out lookin' like you, Cactus Butt?"

Banzai glanced to her before shooting out some thorns in Ed's face with a huff. "But we gotta finish the job!" he then told the female hyena.

"Well, they're as good as dead out there anyway," Shenzi shrugged. "And if they come back, we'll kill 'em."

"Yeah!" Banzai chuckled in agreement before calling out to Simba and Mwitu. "YA HEAR THAT?! IF YOU EVER COME BACK, WE'LL KILL YA!"

The hyenas soon laughed as they went back to Pride Rock.

Later that evening, a family van was shown to be traveling and stopping for the night. There were a mother, a father, two daughters, and a young son, along with... A pet chimpanzee?

"This should be a good place to stop for the night," The mother told her husband. "We'll take a look around first thing tomorrow morning after we get the kids some breakfast."

"Shouldn't be too hard for the Wild Child," The blonde teenage girl rolled her visible eye, pointing to her little brother who babbled a bit like a wild animal. "Couldn't we go to somewhere more exotic? Like London, Paris, or maybe even Tokyo?"

"Oh, poppet, you know I have a job to do," The man smiled with a thick British accent. "In fact, we all do."

"Don't remind me." The blonde grumbled to herself as she took out a magazine which was called Teenage Wasteland.

The younger girl looked out one window with her chimp best friend. "I wonder what those lions are doing?" she then said to herself.

"Eliza, you probably shouldn't get involved," The chimp warned as only she could hear him speaking unlike the rest of the family. "I mean, if you bother them, they might have you for dinner if you know what I mean."

"I just wanna see what they're doing." The redheaded girl said as she went to go out the door.

"Eliza, where are you going?" The mother asked her younger daughter.

"Oh! Um... Darwin and I are just gonna go out for some air," Eliza replied innocently. "I mean, that was a pretty long ride, am I right?"

"Hmm... Yes, it was... I would like a family walk out at night..." The father replied before yawning a bit. "But I am rather tired."

"Okay, sweetie, go for a quick walk, but come straight back," The mother told her younger daughter. "Try not to disturb any sleeping animals."

"I won't, Mom." Eliza promised as she walked off before dragging Darwin along since he hesitated in going with her.

The blonde girl rolled her eyes while she went to get some sleep with her parents, though her little brother was a challenge to get some sleep. 

Eliza and Darwin wandered on their own a bit as they saw a group of lions together as something important seemed to happen.

"Mufasa's death is a terrible tragedy, but to lose Simba who had barely begun to live, and also to have Mwitu, an honorary member of the pride, gone with them." Scar soon announced to the rest of the lions like he was delivering a eulogy to a funeral.

"Oh, my goodness..." Eliza whispered to herself as she hid behind the bushes with Darwin, feeling a little sad for the lion pride.

Sarabi and Nala were the most upset. Zazu comforted Sarabi with his wing with the other lionesses doing their best to comfort her as she lost a wolf she loved like her own daughter, her very own son, and mate as she had the worst pain imaginable as Nala cried under her mother. 

"For me it is a deep and personal loss, so it is with a heavy heart that I assume the throne," Scar then continued as shadows of hyenas soon appeared which startled Eliza and Darwin a bit, though more to him than to her. "Yet out the ashes of this tragedy, we shall rise TO GREET THE DAWNING OF A NEW ERA IN WHICH LION AND HYENA COME TOGETHER IN A GREAT AND GLORIOUS FUTURE!"

"Lion and hyena come together?" Eliza repeated to herself. 

"I suggest we come together to let them be!" Darwin said nervously before dashing off.

"Oh, Darwin, come back!" Eliza cried out, rushing over to help him out as the Pridelands were all in grief. 

This was going to be a very long and painful transition with Mufasa and Simba gone. Eliza just had to wonder what happened, but soon went with Darwin before they came back into the Comvee. Eliza felt determined to do something, but Darwin told her not to get involved before they soon went to sleep that night, though Eliza thought she heard a wolf howl.


	6. Chapter 6

After Pride Rock had its new king, it was all downhill from there. However, little did Scar know, Mwitu and Simba were in fact not dead. They were both shown to be lying out in the middle of the desert under the hot and blazing sun which felt cruel and unforgiving, much like the world they lived in right now. The two young animals were baking in the heat as buzzards circled them, going to come down to feast on their remains. However, they would have to make new lunch plans as two animals were heard charging over which were a meerkat and a warthog. The two new animals soon shoved and kicked the buzzards away from the young wolf and the lion cub as they had fun while doing what they were doing. 

"I love this!" The warthog beamed. "Bowling for Buzzards!"

"Gets 'em everytime!" The meerkat laughed while dusting himself clean. 

"Yeah! That was great!" A feral boy soon came out to join them. He appeared to have a golden loincloth with his hair flopped into a mess, though he seemed kindly.

"You're tellin' me, kid!" The meerkat beamed, slapping fives with her.

"Uh-oh... Hey, Timon! Jungle Boy! You better come look!" The warthog soon called out to his companions. "I think they're still alive."

The meerkat grimaced a bit before coming over to see what it was. He soon moved the paws aside to see Simba and Mwitu's faces which startled him up to his warthog buddy's head, grabbing his ears like controls. "Jeez, it's a lion and a wolf! Run, Pumbaa! Move it! Jungle Boy, you hold 'em off."

"Hey, Timon, they're just a little lion and wolf." Jungle Boy told the meerkat.

"He's right," The warthog named Pumbaa agreed before cooing excitedly. "Look at 'em... They're so cute and all alone... Can we keep 'em?!"

"Pumbaa, are you nuts?!" Timon replied. "You're talking about a lion and a wolf! Lions and wolves eat guys like us!"

"But they're so little." Pumbaa said.

"They're gonna get bigger." Timon replied.

"Maybe if we make friends with them, they'll be on our side," Jungle Boy replied. "Besides, Jana will help protect us."

"What if... Hey... Maybe they're on our side," Timon laughed before looking inspired, trying to make that idea as his own. "Ya know, having a couple of predators around might not be such a bad idea."

"Great idea, Timon." Jungle Boy deadpanned.

"So we're keeping them?" Pumbaa smiled hopefully.

"Of course," Timon replied. "Who's the brains in this outfit?"

"Uhh..." Pumbaa paused thoughtfully.

"Jeez, I'm fried," Timon then said as Pumbaa lifted the lion cub up while Jungle Boy carried the young wolf over his shoulder. "Let's get out of here and find some shade. Maybe Jana brought over some dinner."

They soon walked off to go to an oasis. There was a young woman shown who looked like an older teen who was by the water, taking a bit of a swim, she had long platinum blonde hair which almost looked white and had her clothes beside the water as she took a soak and appeared to be feral like Jungle Boy. 

"Hey, Jana." Jungle Boy smiled to her.

"Jungle Boy, hello," The feral girl smiled back. "Did you have fun with Timon and Pumbaa?" 

"Yeah, but we also have some company," Jungle Boy said. "I hope that's okay. Now, when you see them, don't freak out."

"I'll do my best not to." The girl replied.

Two other animals soon came out which were a water opossum and a sleek white jaguar.

"Hey, Tico. Hey, Ghost." Jungle Boy said to them.

"What's this about company?" Tico the possum asked.

"Uh, you'll see..." Jungle Boy smiled sheepishly.

Eventually, Jungle Boy, Timon, and Pumbaa brought out the lion cub and the young wolf. Tico and Ghost looked nervous, but Jungle Boy reminded them to keep calm and Jana was of course calm. Jana soon got out of the water, making Jungle Boy turn the other way as she used a giant leaf to dry herself off and put her clothes back on which were a dress made out of animal skin and a special necklace. 

"Oh, I miss South America sometimes, but it's good to make new friends," Jana said, looking to the lion cub and the young wolf. "Who are they?"

"Not sure, actually," Jungle Boy replied. "We found them with the buzzards, but Pumbaa thinks they're still alive."

"I think they could use some water." Timon said.

"That might be a good idea." Jana agreed with the meerkat.

Timon nodded and soon began to splash some water onto Simba and Mwitu. The young animals soon coughed and slowly woke up to see that they had some company. 

"You guys okay?" Ghost asked.

"I guess so." Simba replied softly.

"You nearly died." Pumbaa told the young wolf and the lion cub.

"I saved ya's," Timon said which made Jungle Boy glare and Pumbaa snort. "Well, Pumbaa and Jungle Boy helped... A little."

"Thanks for your help." Mwitu said as she went to travel off alone with Simba, feeling devastated as though her early life was a blur, she still remembered what happened to Mufasa.

"Hey, where you going?" Timon asked them.

"Nowhere." Simba and Mwitu sighed.

"Gee, they look blue." Timon commented.

"I'd say he's more brownish gold while she's a red that can match the sunset." Pumbaa replied.

"No, no, no, I mean they're depressed." Timon explained.

"Come on, let's go see them." Jana suggested.

The small group soon followed after Simba and Mwitu. 

"Guys, what's eatin' ya?" Pumbaa asked the two.

"Nuthin', they're at the top of the food chain," Timon said before laughing at his own joke. "The food chain!" he then looked over and soon let his laughter die out as it wasn't helping. "Uh... So, where ya from?"

"Who cares?" Simba sulked. "We can't go back."

"Ah, you're outcasts; so are we." Timon remarked.

"What'd you do, guys?" Pumbaa asked.

"Something terrible." Mwitu frowned.

"We don't wanna talk about it." Simba added.

"Good, we don't wanna hear it." Timon said, about to turn away.

"Aw, come on, Timon," Jungle Boy said, stopping him before looking to Simba and Mwitu. "Uh, is there anything we can do?"

"Not unless you can change the past." Simba and Mwitu both sulked.

"Ya know, guys, in times like this, my buddy Timon says 'Ya gotta put your behind in your past'."

"That's not how it goes!" Jungle Boy told the warthog.

"He's right, let me handle this; lie down before ya hurt yourself," Timon added before facing their new friends. "It's you gotta put your past behind ya. Look, guys, bad things happen, and you can't do anything about it, right?"

"Right." Simba and Mwitu nodded.

"WRONG!" Timon corrected as he advised them a bit. "When the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world!"

"Well, that's not what we were taught." Mwitu replied.

"Then maybe you need a new lesson. Repeat after me," Timon said before clearing his throat. "Hakuna Matata."

"What...?" Simba asked.

"Ha-Kuna Ma-Tata," Pumbaa enunciated for him and Mwitu. "It means no worries."

"Hakuna Matata... What a wonderful phrase." Timon began.

"Hakuna Matata... Ain't no passin' craze!" Pumbaa added.

"It means no worries, for the rest of your days!" Jungle Boy then added.

"It's our problem free," Jana said, leading Simba into a chair and filed down his claws. "Philosophy."

"Hakuna Matata." The group told the new ones.

"Hakuna Matata?" Simba and Mwitu repeated curiously.

"Yeah, it's our motto." Tico replied.

"What's a motto?" Simba asked.

"Nothing, what's a motto with you?" Timon replied before laughing with the others while Simba and Mwitu felt bewildered.

"You know, guys, these two words are gonna solve all your problems." Jana advised.

"That's right, take Pumbaa for example," Timon said before he began to sing. "Why... When he was a young warthog..."

"When I was a young wartHOOOOOOOOOG~" Pumbaa repeated, a bit loudly and boorishly.

"Very nice." Timon muttered, cleaning the inside of his ear.

"Thanks!" Pumbaa beamed.

"He found his aroma like a certain appeal," Timon explained Pumbaa's backstory a bit. "He could clear the Savanna after every meal."

"I'm a sensitive soul, though I seem thick skinned, and it hurt that my friends never stood downwind," Pumbaa added before crying dramatically. "And, oh, the shame!"

"He was ashamed." Timon replied, making it sound like a gospel song now.

"Thought of changing my name." Pumbaa continued.

"Oh, what's in the name?" Timon cried.

"And I got downhearted." Pumbaa pouted.

"How did you feel?" Timon asked.

"Every time that I--" Pumbaa began only for Timon to cover his mouth.

"Pumbaa, not in front of the kids." Timon smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, sorry." Pumbaa smiled back the same way.

Simba and Mwitu glanced to each other in confusion from that. 

"Hakuna Matata... What a wonderful phrase~" Jungle Boy and Jana sang as Timon and Pumbaa worked on a vine swing above Simba and Mwitu. "Hakuna Matata... Ain't no passin' craze~"

Simba and Mwitu both began to look like they felt a bit better. "It means no worries, for the rest of your days!~" they soon sang together.

"Yeah, sing it, guys!" Tico beamed.

"It's our problem free~..." The group sang.

"Philosophy!" Pumbaa added as he came crashing down.

"Hakuna Matata..." They all smiled to each other, becoming the best of friends.

"Welcome to our humble home." Timon introduced, showing Mwitu and Simba deep into the oasis, making them take in the wonderful and majestic sights.

"You live here?" Simba whispered in awestruck.

"We live wherever we want, as long as King Raymond isn't around." Jungle Boy said. 

"Who?" Mwitu asked.

"I'll tell ya later." Jungle Boy said.

"Yeah! Home is where your rump rests!" Pumbaa added.

"It's beautiful." Mwitu beamed.

They soon walked along the jungle together.

"Who's hungry?" Jana asked.

"I'm starved!" Pumbaa said, letting out a big belch.

"I'm so hungry I could eat a whole zebra." Simba commented.

"Uh... We're fresh out of zebra." Timon smiled nervously.

"Any antelope?" Mwitu asked.

"Nuh-uh." Timon replied.

"Hippo?" Simba asked.

"Nope... Listen, guys, if you live with us, you're gonna have to eat like us," Timon suggested. "Hey, this looks like a good place to russle up some grub."

Pumbaa lifted up a lug to show several bugs crawling around while Timon reached for some.

"Eww, what's that?" Simba grimaced.

"A grub, what's it look like?" Timon smiled hungrily.

"Ugh..." Mwitu shuddered. "Do you ALL eat bugs?"

"Occasionally Jungle Boy and I eat meat, but we mostly harvest fruits and vegetables." Jana replied.

"Listen to me, Jana, is it? I need meat... I need meat RIGHT now!" Mwitu begged, almost sounding like she had gone insane. "You don't understand, my meat craving is stronger than Simba's."

"All right, all right, calm down," Jana said, unfazed by her frustration as she walked off with Jungle Boy. "Come on, Jungle Boy, let's get this wolf some meat."

Eventually, they came to what looked like a clubhouse in the middle of the jungle. Jana and Jungle Boy led Mwitu up to an elevator that was made out of wood, twigs, and leaves which took them up to the clubhouse as they came inside. There were furniture animal skinned furniture like couches, prints on the wall, and many more.

"So, you guys live here?" Mwitu asked.

"Yes, my animal friends helped me build it," Jana replied. "You see, I'm not originally from this jungle in Africa."

"You're not?" Mwitu asked.

"No," Jana said before taking some meat out of what looked like a fridge and soon collected a nice, big pile together to give to Mwitu to satisfy her hunger. "I'm actually from South America."

"So... Are you guys... Humans?" Mwitu asked.

"Well, of course we are," Jungle Boy replied. "We're not hairless monkeys."

"A lot of animals make that confusion around here." Jana rolled her eyes slightly.

Mwitu soon dug into the meat, eating and gobbling it up. Of course, this didn't bother Jana and Jungle Boy as they were used to seeing animals like that.

"So... A wolf in Africa..." Jana commented. "How did that happen?"

"Um... Well... I don't know how to explain this, but I sorta just ended up here," Mwitu replied while eating, feeling much better now. "The only thing I remember is that I was running from some hyenas, then King Mufasa saved me from them and took me into his pride. That's when I met Simba, he's like a little brother to me."

"I see... So you don't remember your family or home before coming into the jungle..." Jana replied.

"That's right," Mwitu nodded. "I know it sounds crazy, but it's true."

"You don't seem like you would lie." Jungle Boy said.

"How about you?" Mwitu asked them. "How did you end up here?"

"Well... It's almost like your story," Jana replied. "You see, when my brother here was just a baby, we were traveling in a boat with our father. I was very young at the time, but then a terrible storm hit, and the boat soon caught on fire from the storm. We ended up in the water and got separated from our father... We haven't seen him since."

"Goodness... How long ago was this?" Mwitu asked.

"I'm six-years-old now." Jungle Boy said, holding up his fingers.

"That long? Gosh... So, you've lived in the jungles ever since, and you can talk to animals?" Mwitu asked.

"That's right," Jana said. "We were just lucky to be saved by Montaro."

"And who's that?" Mwitu asked.

"A descendant of a lost warrior tribe who has his own supernatural weapon known as the Staff of Power that can cause earthquake shockwaves when it strikes the ground." Jana explained.

"Sounds friendly." Mwitu replied.

"Oh, he is," Jana nodded. "He saved us, and we become close friends before we then met Tico and Ghost."

"So, if you're from South America, what are you doing in Africa?" Mwitu then asked.

"An Oracle from his tribe came to us and told us we were destined to come here to help," Jungle Boy explained. "We don't know who or why, but since you guys were in trouble before Timon and Pumbaa came by, that seems to be our answer."

"Well, I'm thankful for that... Thank you." Mwitu gave a small smile.

"Of course, Mwitu." Jana smiled back.

Eventually, Mwitu finished her meat, and to everyone's surprise, Simba grew to like eating bugs. Leaving Pride Rock was a big experience, but Mwitu and Simba grew to like staying with Timon and Pumbaa. Some time had passed and Simba now had his own mane, nearly resembling his late father. Mwitu stayed with Simba as long as she could as they all hung out together because they had their new problem-free philosophy.

One night soon came and they were all lying on the grass together before a very loud burp was heard that nearly echoed throughout the jungle.

"Ooh, nice one, Mwitu," Timon chuckled. "You could be better than Simba in our little games."

"Like you tried to be with that Snail Slurping Contest?" Mwitu smirked.

"Hey, I nearly had him, you saw!" Timon replied.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." Mwitu smirked playfully.

"Man, I'm stuffed..." Simba said.

"Me too," Pumbaa added. "I ate like a pig."

"Pumbaa, you ARE a pig." Jungle Boy chuckled.

"Oh, right." Pumbaa replied.

"Well, it's really nice to kick back and relax once in a while." Mwitu smiled.

"Don't I know it?" Jana agreed. "Especially in times like this."

They all sighed happily before looking up at the night sky as it was dotted with plenty of stars.

"Uh... Timon?" Pumbaa spoke up.

"Yeah?" Timon replied.

"Ever wonder what those sparkly dots are up there?" Pumbaa asked.

"Pumbaa, I don't wonder... I know." Timon replied.

"Oh... What are they?" Pumbaa asked.

"This should be good." Jana smirked playfully.

"They're fireflies," Timon told Pumbaa. "Fireflies that got stuck up in that big bluish black thing."

"Oh, gee," replied Pumbaa. "I always thought they were balls of gas burning, billions of miles away."

"Pumbaa, with you everything's gas." Timon said.

Jana rolled her eyes as she knew, though she seemed to have a small memory of her father telling her about the stars as they looked up to them before the boat accident. 

"Simba, Mwitu, what do you think?" Tico soon asked.

"I-I don't know..." Simba said nervously of what they would think of what he had to say before they urged him so he gave in and decided to let it out. Somebody once told me, that the great kings of the past are up there, watching over us."

"Really...?" Pumbaa asked.

"You mean a bunch of royal dead guys are up there watching us?" Timon added before he and Pumbaa soon started to laugh.

Tico and Ghost soon laughed along with them. Jana and Jungle Boy didn't seem to like that while Mwitu felt like she got hit in the stomach a bit. 

"Who told you something like that?!" Timon asked while laughing. "What mook made that up?!"

"Yeah... Pretty dumb, huh...?" Simba smiled weakly. He then looked up at the sky as they laughed before he stormed off.

"Oh, nice going, Timon." Mwitu growled.

"Was it something I said...?" Timon asked weakly.

Mwitu went to go after Simba while Jana clonked Timon and Pumbaa's heads together.

"Ow! What did I do?!" Pumbaa complained.

"You laughed." Jana glared.

"Serves you right." Tico smirked.

"You and Ghost are next!" Jana told the possum.

"Aw, crumbs..." Ghost muttered a bit.

Simba walked up to the cliff as he sadly looked up at the sky, now thinking about his father again. Mwitu came to keep him company before they both collasped onto the ground together. As they did that, some dust and pollen went flying a bit through the air of the Savanna, though this would be important to remember for later.


	7. Chapter 7

Back in Pride Rock, it was a bit dark and depressing. Nigel and Marianne were shown to be shooting in front of it while Debbie was more or less forced to babysit Donnie, Darwin, and Eliza. 

"Gosh... I didn't think the lion king would do something like this..." Eliza commented to Darwin.

"He's probably a tyrant who keeps all the food for himself," Darwin replied. "Now, I suggest we stay away from Pride Rock otherwise they lions will want us FOR dinner."

A baboon was heard chattering and laughing.

"Well, at least someone's having a good time." Eliza commented, going that way.

"Eliza! What are you doing?!" Debbie complained to her younger sister.

"Oh, uh, Darwin and I are going for a walk." Eliza smiled innocently.

"You two are always going out for walks," Debbie rolled her visible eye. "Seriously, what are you two up to?"

"Nothing, Debbie, it's just a walk!" Eliza replied.

"Well, Mom and Dad left me in charge, and I say you gotta tell me what's going on before I make you tell me." Debbie glared.

Donnie was heard babbling before he ran with Debbie's magazine.

"I think you have bigger things to worry about right now." Eliza said innocently.

"DONNIE!" Debbie soon snapped and ran after him. 

Donnie babbled as he climbed up a tree and began to rip out the pages of the magazine while laughing.

"Donnie, you get back down here with that!" Debbie scowled as she went to go after him, leaving her stuck up the tree.

Donnie laughed and soon ran off. Eliza and Darwin then took that time to make their escape. 

"Donnie, get me down from here!" Debbie demanded. "Oh, when we go to the Serengeti, I'm going to stay in my room! You're all on my list! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

Eliza and Darwin continued to sneak off.

A baboon was shown to be laughing and looked excited as he had a painting of a lion on the wall, putting a crimson red mane on it. "It is time."

"Uh, excuse me?" Eliza spoke up, getting his attention. "Time for what, exactly?"

"Oh... A human... I have not seen humans in years... And you have a chimpanzee companion, I see..." The baboon said.

"Yes, my name is Darwin, and this is Eliza." Darwin replied.

"Ah, very good to meet you," The baboon smiled. "Welcome to the Pridelands," he then sighed softly. "We used to be so happy and peaceful... Until King Mufasa's death."

"Oh... I'm so sorry for your loss." Eliza replied.

"That's quite alright... I see you communicate with animals, yes?" The baboon asked.

"Yes, I can talk to animals, it's a long story," Eliza replied. "Now, what's going on that you say 'it is time' for?" she then asked, feeling like she really needed to know.

"Ah, yes, you see, Prince Simba was rumored to be dead, along with King Mufasa and Princess Mwitu, but the Fates have told me that they are now alive." The baboon stated.

"Wow. That's a lot to take in." Eliza replied.

"Okay, we asked him what was going on, now we did, can we get back to Debbie now before she gets us?" Darwin asked Eliza nervously.

"Hold on, Darwin," Eliza said. "Um, Mr. Baboon?"

"Please, please... My name is Rafiki." The baboon replied.

"Rafiki... That's a nice name," Eliza replied. "Your, uh, Pridelands, was it? Looks quite deserted and depressing."

"Yes, the king's brother took over," Rafiki informed. "I must now get the prince back to have him take the throne in Mufasa's absence."

"Mind if we come along?" Eliza asked. "We might be able to help."

"Eliza?!" Darwin complained.

"I'm not sure what all you can do, but I must get through to Simba and Mwitu... Wherever they might be right now... I can almost sense them." Rafiki said.

"Hm... I think I can see that you're more than just a baboon." Eliza commented.

"You are correct, my human child." Rafiki nodded.

"I don't like this... What if this lion prince doesn't listen to us?" Darwin asked anxiously.

"Oh, I know he will, along with the wolf princess." Rafiki replied.

"Wolf princess?" Eliza and Darwin asked out of confusion.

"Yes, you see, some time ago, Mwitu ended up lost in Pride Rock and seeked shelter here after the hyenas chased her here and King Mufasa saved her life," Rafiki explained. "She's been apart of the pride ever since."

"What happened to her own family?" Eliza asked.

"She does not know or remember." Rafiki replied.

"Oh, how awful." Eliza frowned in concern.

A young lioness was seen walking by then.

"Ah, Nala," Rafiki greeted. "Are you off somewhere?"

"Yes," Nala sighed a bit. "I must get food for Pride Rock. We could all die very soon and Scar won't do anything to help. Aunt Sarabi seems to be suffering the most."

"I just heard about what happened, and I'm so sorry." Eliza said to the young lioness.

"Who are you?" Nala asked.

"I'm Eliza Thornberry and this is Darwin," Eliza introduced. "Yes, I can talk to animals, but it's a long story."

"Are you a hairless chimp or something?" Nala asked.

"No, Nala, Eliza is a human," Rafiki explained. "I've never met one who could communicate with we animals before. Perhaps you should go together for your hunt."

"Well... I guess that would be alright." Nala replied.

"Well, wait a minute, what're you gonna do for--" Eliza was about to ask before turning around to see that the baboon had vanished somehow, looking around in slight confusion. "...He's gone."

"That was freaky." Darwin shuddered.

"Come on, we better get going if you wanna help." Nala suggested.

"Thank you... Nala, right?" Eliza replied.

"Yes... Nice to meet you both." Nala said as she left Pride Rock.

Darwin whimpered and whined a bit until Eliza grabbed his arm and pulled him to go along with them since he wouldn't move on his own.

Meanwhile, deep in the jungle, Tico, Ghost, Timon, and Pumbaa were seen to be traveling together, just hanging out and sang "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" to each other. Timon sang the main song while the other animals sang back-up chorus. Ghost and Pumbaa soon saw a beetle and went after it.

"I can't hear ya, buddy!" Timon said before squealing a bit. "A-WHEEEEEEEEEEE-EEEEEE!~"

"Uh, Timon? I think we're alone right now." Tico commented.

"Uh, Pumbaa?" Timon called out, seeing that the jaguar and warthog were gone. "Ghost?!"

"Come on, we better go find them." Tico suggested.

They soon walked off together to go find their missing friends. Pumbaa began to follow after a bettle who went into the log while Ghost sat there. A rustling sound was heard in the grass which made Ghost growl at first, looking into the grass to take a look as he crawled over while Pumbaa climbed over the log to get the beetle.

"Timon? Tico?" Pumbaa called, but then shrugged as he didn't see the meerkat or possum there, so he kept on going.

Ghost looked around as he felt something wrong as he went to check out what was going on. Pumbaa kept pursing after the beetle, looking eager and ready to eat it. However, when Pumbaa took a look at the beetle in front of the golden grass, he saw someone there which scared him away as it was a lioness and soon ran for his life.

"Go away!" Ghost growled at the lioness in the grass. 

Pumbaa soon ran off as Ghost tried to tackle down the lioness, but she shoved him away and pursued after the warthog. Pumbaa soon ran to go under a tree root, but got stuck there due to his weight. 

"Pumbaa!" Timon called as he rushed over with Tico. "Pumbaa, what's going on?"

"SHE'S GONNA EAT ME!" Pumbaa cried out.

"Huh?" Timon and Tico asked, coming above the root to see the running lioness. "WHOA!"

"Did you hear that?" Jungle Boy asked his sister as they collected some food for themselves.

"Come on, it's probably Timon and Pumbaa." Jana replied before running off.

Jungle Boy nodded and went to go after her. 

"Jeez, why do I always have to save your--" Timon complained, trying to shove Pumbaa out of the root before leaning against him in terror of the lioness. "AAAAUGH!!!"

Simba soon lunged out from over the root and began to tackle down the lioness. 

Timon watched the fight in excitement before patting Pumbaa in comfort. "Don't worry, buddy; I'm here for ya. Everything's gonna be okay." he then soothed.

Tico and Ghost soon came to each other.

"I tried to help Pumbaa." Ghost said.

"It's okay, I'm sure you did alright." Tico replied.

Jungle Boy and Jana glared as they stood over with spears, though the lioness then pinned down Simba as he slowly caught his breath. Mwitu just came over then, slowly growling.

Simba eyed the lioness up and down as something about her seemed very familiar to him. "Nala...?" he then asked which made her gasp and slowly get off of him. "Is it really you?"

"Who are you...?" Nala asked, feeling confused at first.

"It's me..." Simba told her. "Simba."

"Nala?" Mwitu muttered to herself.

"Simba?" Nala asked.

Simba nodded to her to confirm he was who he said he was. Nala soon beamed and Simba joined her as they had reunited after a very long separation. Timon looked jaw-dropped over what he was seeing as he couldn't believe it. Jungle Boy and Jana looked equally confused as Timon, Tico, and Ghost. The feral siblings shrugged to each other as they couldn't tell each other what was going on right now.

"Whoa, whoa, hey, what's going on here?!" Timon asked, coming between the wolf and the lions.

"Nala, is that really you?" Mwitu smiled.

"Mwitu?" Nala smiled back.

"Heh, you know any other wolves from Pride Rock?" Mwitu chuckled a bit.

"HEY!" Timon soon shouted to make them stop. "WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!"

"Timon, this is Nala," Simba smiled. "She's our best friend."

"Friend?" Timon glanced at him.

"Well, she's more of Simba's girlfriend if you know what I mean." Mwitu smirked a bit.

"Aw, come on, you know it wasn't like that," Simba chuckled bashfully before calling out to the warthog. "Hey, Pumbaa! Tico! Ghost! Come over here! Everything's okay."

Jungle Boy and Jana soon came to join the animals to meet Nala. 

"Nala, this is Jungle Boy, Jana, Ghost, Tico, and Pumbaa," Mwitu introduced. "Guys, this is Nala."

"Pleased to meet your acquaintance." Pumbaa greeted the lioness.

Jungle Boy hid behind Jana shyly.

"Pleasure's all mine," Nala replied. "Don't feel scared. I won't hurt you."

"Pfft, sure you won't," Timon rolled his eyes at first. "So, let me get this straight; you guys know her and she knows you, but she wants to eat Pumbaa and the others, and everyone's okay with this? DID I MISS SOMETHING?!"

"Relax, Timon." Simba told the meerkat.

"Wait until everyone finds out that you guys have been here all this time," Nala said to Simba and Mwitu. "And your mother? What would she think?"

Simba couldn't help but think about what Scar said before he and Mwitu had run away from Pride Rock.

"Uh, she doesn't have to know." Mwitu told Nala, knowing how Simba was feeling right now.

"Yes, nobody has to know." Simba quickly agreed.

"Of course they do," Nala replied. "Everyone thinks you guys are dead."

"They do?" Mwitu and Simba asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Nala nodded. "Scar told us about the stampede."

"He did...?" Simba asked. "What else did he tell you?"

"What else matters?" Nala shrugged with a smile. "You're alive, and that means... You're the king."

Mwitu remembered about Simba's destiny to become the next lion king since Mufasa was out of the picture, but she remained silence for the time being. 

"King?" Timon replied. "Lady, have you got your lions crossed?"

"King!" Pumbaa repeated as he came toward Simba's paws, kissing them a bit. "Your Majesty, I grovel at your feet!"

"Stop it." Simba complained.

"Uh, Pumbaa, it's 'gravel', not 'grovel'," Jana corrected with a small giggle. "Anyway... Maybe you shouldn't. Simba's not the king... Uh... Are you?" she then asked the lion.

"No." Simba replied.

"Simba!" Nala frowned as she couldn't believe he wouldn't accept his responsibility.

"No, I'm not the king," Simba shook his head. "maybe I was gonna be, but that was a long time ago."

"Let me get this straight," Tico soon spoke up. "You're the king and you never told us?"

"I'm still the same guy." Simba replied.

"But with power!" Timon grinned. "And what would that make you, Mwitu?"

"Well, Mufasa and Sarabi made me the honorary Wolf Queen, but I don't think that means anything in Pride Rock as I'm the only wolf." Mwitu shrugged.

"Still, it's something, right?" Timon smirked.

"Could you guys excuse us for a few moments?" Nala soon asked Timon, Pumbaa, Ghost, and Tico.

"Whatever she has to say, she can say in front of us, right, guys?" Timon then asked Simba and Mwitu.

"Uh, I think we should all go so Simba and Nala can be alone." Mwitu suggested.

"Yes, I think that's a good idea too." Simba nodded in agreement.

Timon and Pumbaa didn't seem to like Simba's response, but the others understood. Jana waved to the two lions as she took her little brother by the hand as they went to let them be alone. 

"It starts... Ya think ya know a guy..." Timon groaned a bit.

Simba chuckled a bit about the meerkat and the warthog. "Timon and Pumbaa, you learn to love 'em."

Nala glanced at him and walked off as she seemed distant right now. Simba noticed that and soon tried to comfort his cubhood best friend. 

"What?" Simba asked in concern. "What is it?"

"It's like you're back from the dead," Nala hung her head. "You don't know how much this will mean to everyone, what it means to me."

"Hey, it's okay." Simba replied calmly.

"I really missed you and Mwitu... Mostly you though." Nala said to him softly.

"I missed you too." Simba said before nuzzling her.

The others soon watched this from a distance. They seemed to be alright with it, though Timon seemed bitter and disgusted by it.

"I tell ya, guys... This stinks!" The meerkat groused.

"Oh. Sorry." Pumbaa said bashfully.

"Not you! Them!" Timon told him. "Him... Her... Alone~..." he then batted his eyelashes to give his best friend an idea.

"What's wrong with that?" Jungle Boy asked.

"Yeah, Timon, it's alright." Mwitu said.

"Pah! Maybe for you!" Timon huffed. "I can see what's happening."

"What?" Pumbaa asked.

"And they don't have a clue!" Timon continued.

"Who?" Jana asked.

"They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line: our trio's down to two." Timon replied.

"Oh, sure, leave us out of it." Tico rolled his eyes playfully about himself and the others.

"Aw, you know what I mean!" Timon replied. "Ze sweet caress of twilight. There's magic everywhere. And with all this romantic atmosphere, disasters in the air!"

Mwitu rolled her eyes as she thought that Timon was just overreacting a bit.

"Hey, you must be the wolf princess." Eliza's voice said.

Mwitu looked over, she wasn't sure what it was, but Eliza seemed somewhat familiar to her. "Uh, yeah, that's me..." she then said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Eliza Thornberry," Eliza said before showing her chimp best friend. "And this is my best friend, Darwin. We came with Nala to help out, and Rafiki told us about you."

"Oh, yeah, that monkey who helped out when Simba was born," Mwitu replied. "I sorta know him, but Mufasa and Sarabi know him better since Simba was born before I came to Pride Rock."

"Hmm... Have we met, Mwitu?" Eliza soon asked. "Your voice sounds familiar."

"I don't think so, Eliza, but you sound familiar to me too," Mwitu replied. "Must be interesting to be a human who can talk to animals."

"I've always thought so," Eliza smiled. "Also, Rafiki wants to see you and Simba really soon to get back home to Pride Rock. Think you'll go?"

"Uh, maybe, I dunno," Mwitu shrugged. "Simba's like a little brother to me, so I don't wanna make him do anything he doesn't wanna do."

"You sound like a great big sister... Unlike one I could mention..." Eliza mumbled a bit.

"Jana's a pretty good big sister too," Mwitu said. "She really takes great care of Jungle Boy. I just wish they could find their father."

"Is he gone?" Darwin asked.

"They lost him in a boating accident with Jungle Boy when he was a baby and they came all the way here from South America," Mwitu said. "I'd let them go with you to find him, but they seem to love the jungle so much."

"Yeah... You can take the kid into the jungle, but you can't take the jungle out of the kid," Eliza replied. "My brother Donnie's like that."

"A real wild child?" Mwitu asked.

"Yeah, I don't know the full story, but he was raised by orangutans before we met him and adopted him into our family." Eliza replied.

"That sounds kinda cool." Mwitu commented.

"I think so." Eliza nodded.

Mwitu and Eliza smiled to each other as they seemed to become friends. Little did they know though, there was a connection with them being together as friends, but they wouldn't know the answer until later on. While they did that, it seemed to be the hottest night in the jungle that night as Simba and Nala were falling in love with each other, much to the sadness of Timon and Pumbaa.


	8. Chapter 8

Mwitu sat by the sunset with Jana and Jungle Boy. "Sunset sure is nice..." she then said. "So, you guys like the jungle, huh?"

"We've been here my whole life, so I sure do." Jungle Boy smiled.

"I've really adapted since that storm separated us from our father..." Jana said. "I'm still me, but I feel closer to the jungle than where I used to live. I used to live in the city."

"The city..." Mwitu repeated. "I feel like I know what you mean."

"So you have no memory of who you really are or where you came from..." Jungle Boy said. "That must be sad."

"A little bit... But it's worse with what happened before Simba and I met you guys along with Timon and Pumbaa." Mwitu said.

"Can't you at least tell us what happened?" Jana asked. "Even if it's one of the few memories you have left?"

"Well... Okay... I guess I can tell you about it..." Mwitu said before sighing sharply. "It's kind of a long story."

"We've got time." Jungle Boy smiled a bit.

"Well... You see... I did end up in Pride Rock, sometime after Simba was born," Mwitu sighed softly. "Even if I was a wolf, the Pridelands accepted me as one of their own, though I don't think so about Scar."

"Scar?" Jana asked.

"Simba's uncle." Mwitu said.

"Oh." Jana replied.

"My wolf instincts always felt funny around him... Almost like I couldn't trust him..." Mwitu then continued. "We were all pretty happy together... Me with King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi, even letting me become a wolf princess since Mufasa was the lion king and that made Simba the lion prince."

"That was pretty nice of them," Jungle Boy commented. "I guess at least Scar wasn't King Raymond though."

"I guess," Mwitu shrugged since she didn't know who that was. "We soon came to a gorge because Scar said that Mufasa had a surprise for us... Eventually, Simba practiced his roar to be a great lion king like his dad, but it triggered a wildebeest stampede and it went all downhill from there."

"Huh... That's funny... Even if Simba was a cub when this happened, I don't think a roar like his could trigger them..." Jungle Boy commented.

"Yeah, he was young when this happened, right?" Jana added.

"...Yeah, he was just a cub like when we first met you guys along with Timon and Pumbaa," Mwitu replied. "I'm not sure what could've made the wildebeest stampede then, but Mufasa came to help us, but he fell from a cliff and was stomped to death."

"Where was Scar when this was happening?" Jungle Boy asked.

"I... I don't know, actually..." Mwitu said. "After we found Mufasa's dead body, he just came from nowhere and told us to run away, blaming us for Mufasa's death."

The feral siblings looked to each other. They felt sad to hear about Simba's father dying, but at the same time, they looked angry. They seemed to have the same idea over something.

"What?" Mwitu asked, seeing their expressions. "Guys, we didn't mean for Mufasa to die. Don't get mad at me!"

"No, we're not mad at you," Jana replied. "We think that Scar might've killed Mufasa."

"R-Really...?" Mwitu asked. 

"We're not certain, but we have a gut feeling," Jungle Boy told her. "Don't you think it's a little coincidental that he suddenly ended up where you guys were by Mufasa's body?"

"And isn't it a little funny how a tiny roar could cause so much trouble?" Jana added.

Mwitu paused a bit. She was struck by grief and depression about Mufasa's death at the time with Simba to even really think about it. Scar did seem to show up from nowhere and even telling them to run away like it was the right thing to do. 

"Maybe..." Mwitu then said to the feral siblings. "The hyenas also chased us out of the Pridelands, and that was around when we met you guys."

"Oh, you don't work with hyenas?" Jana asked as wolves and hyenas sometimes hunted together.

"No, I don't like those hyenas... They lured me into Pride Rock in the first place, and Mufasa called the menaces..." Mwitu shook her head. "Though... I guess they aren't that bad... I dunno."

"I'm sorry, Mwitu, but I'm pretty sure this 'Uncle Scar' was working with them to get rid of you and Simba so that he could take his brother's job." Jungle Boy replied.

"Hmph..." Mwitu pouted angrily. "I guess I should've known there was something I didn't like about him. Why didn't I follow my instincts when I first met him or when Mufasa died? I should've questioned him, but I just ran away."

"It's okay, Mwitu, it's not your fault," Jana said, gently petting the ginger colored wolf. "You couldn't have helped that."

"I think I should maybe go talk to Simba about this." Mwitu suggested.

"Maybe that would be a good idea," Jungle Boy said. "We're very sorry about Mufasa though."

"Thank you..." Mwitu said as she walked off, she went to get a quick drink of water from the river as she went through a lot of emotions and soon went to see her foster lion brother.

Meanwhile, Simba and Nala walked over a big log as they took a look around as the jungle was very pretty at night.

"Isn't this a great place?" Simba smiled to his cubhood best friend.

"It is beautiful... But... I don't understand something," Nala replied. "You've been alive all this time. Why didn't you and Mwitu come back to Pride Rock?"

"Well... We just needed to get out on our own and live our own lives," Simba said as he tried to get onto the vine hammock. "We did and it's great."

"But we've really needed you back home." Nala frowned.

"No one needs us." Simba replied.

"Yes, we do!" Nala told him. "You're the king, and Mwitu can help you."

"Nala, we've been through this," Simba replied. "I'm not the king. Scar is."

"Simba... He let the hyenas take over the Pridelands." Nala told him.

"What?" Simba gasped from that.

Mwitu was on her way over, but found Simba and Nala talking.

"Everything's destroyed; there's no food, no water," Nala told him. "Simba, if you don't do something soon, everyone will starve."

"I can't go back..." Simba muttered a bit as he still had something hanging over his head about going back home.

"Why?" Nala asked.

"You won't understand." Simba sighed.

"What won't I understand?" Nala asked.

"No, no, no. It doesn't matter..." Simba tried to dismiss her. "Hakuna Matata."

"What?" Nala glanced at him.

"Hakuna Matata," Simba repeated. "It's something Mwitu and I learned over here. Look, sometimes bad things happen--"

"SIMBA!" Nala glared a bit.

"And there's nothing you can do about it," Simba continued from what Timon taught him. "So, why worry?"

"Because it's your responsibility." Nala replied.

"What about you?" Simba then asked. "You left."

"I left to find help, and I found you!" Nala began to get angry. "Don't you understand? You and Mwitu are our only hope!"

"Sorry." Simba muttered as he seemed useless right now.

Mwitu stayed out of this as she hid away from the adult lions.

"What's happened to you?" Nala asked in disbelief to Simba's responses to her. "You're not the Simba I remember."

"You're right, I'm not," Simba replied. "Now, are you satisfied?"

"No... Just disappointed..." Nala said.

"You know, you're starting to sound like my father." Simba then huffed.

"Good!" Nala replied. "At least one of us does."

"Listen! If you think you can show up and tell me how to live my life, you don't even know what I've been through!" Simba glared.

"I would if you just tell me!" Nala told him.

"FORGET IT!" Simba growled as he stormed off.

"FINE!" Nala growled back as she looked very angry.

Simba soon walked off, passing by Mwitu and noticed her. "Mwitu?"

"Uh... Hey, Simba..." Mwitu said to him. "Tough talk?"

"Ugh... I don't know if I can talk about it..." Simba groaned a bit as he stormed off a bit.

Mwitu went to go and catch up with him. "Simba, don't you wanna talk about it?" she then asked.

"I guess you heard that stuff?" Simba guessed.

"Yeah... And... About that--" Mwitu replied.

"I don't wanna talk about it," Simba sulked a bit. "Nala's wrong. I can't go back. What would it prove anyway? It won't change anything."

"No, I guess not, but we could still help." Mwitu said to him.

"Don't tell me you're taking HER side!" Simba replied.

"Simba, calm down!" Mwitu told him. 

"We can't change the past..." Simba replied before he soon thought about his father and yelled out into the stars. "YOU SAID YOU'D ALWAYS BE THERE FOR ME! ...But you're not... It's because of us..." he then sulked.

"Oh, Simba..." Mwitu frowned as she didn't know what to do now.

"It's our fault..." Simba sulked. "It's our fault..."

To avoid an argument, Mwitu didn't say anything to him or what Jana and Jungle Boy said, so she stayed silent. This was a rough night for both of them anyway. However, the next sound heard was the singing of a certain baboon.

"Eliza? Darwin?" Mwitu asked hopefully since the two probably went back to the Comvee as it was late.

However, it was neither as the baboon was seen in the tree, singing to himself. "Asante Sana Squash Banana we we nugu mi mi apana~"

Mwitu and Simba glanced over and decided to ignore the baboon. 

"Come on, will you cut that out?" Simba groaned.

"Can't cut it out; it'll grow right back." Rafiki laughed.

"Creepy little monkey... Why couldn't you have been Darwin?" Mwitu muttered to herself.

Rafiki soon began to follow after the lion and the wolf.

"Will you stop following us?" Simba complained. "Who are you?"

"The question is, who are you?" Rafiki replied.

Mwitu sighed sharply from that. "I thought I knew, my buddy here too, but we're not so sure." she then told the eccentric baboon.

"Well, I know who you two are," Rafiki replied. "Come here, it's a secret."

Simba and Mwitu looked to each other and they came to listen to the secret.

"ASANTE SANA SQUASH BANANA WE WE NUGU MI MI APANA~" Rafiki soon chanted to them.

"Ugh! Cut that out or I'm gonna have you as a midnight snack!" Mwitu complained. "What's that even supposed to mean anyway?"

"It means you are a baboon and I am not!" Rafiki laughed.

"Come on, Simba," Mwitu then said. "This monkey needs serious help."

"WRONG! I am not the one who needs help," Rafiki replied. "You two do not even know who you are."

"Oh, and we suppose you know?" Simba deadpanned.

"Sure I do!" Rafiki replied. "You are Mufasa's boy and you did not originally come from Pride Rock!"

Simba and Mwitu stopped in shock. They turned to see the baboon who smiled innocently to them.

"Bye!" Rafiki smiled to them before running off.

"Hey, wait!" Mwitu and Simba called out as they went to chase after the baboon.

They ran as fast as they could to catch up with Rafiki. It seemed to take a long while until they soon found the baboon meditating on a rock, looking calm and quiet for once.

"You knew my father?" Simba asked Rafiki.

"Correction: I KNOW your father." Rafiki replied.

"Oh... Uh... I hate to tell you this... But he died a long time ago..." Simba said softly.

"Nope! Wrong again!" Rafiki then laughed a bit. "He's alive, and I will show him to you! You follow Old Rafiki, he knows the way. Come on!" he then led them along the twisted jungle area.

Mwitu blinked in confusion and surprise. Could Mufasa really be alive? It was hard to say for right now. Rafiki kept leading the way as they seemed to go through a bit of an obstacle course through the jungle atmosphere.

"STOP!" Rafiki told them, suddenly making them stop in their tracks, guiding them to a watering hole. "Look down there."

Simba and Mwitu came beside Rafiki. However, when they did, they looked into the water to see their reflections which was a bit disappointing at first.

"That's not my father," Simba sulked. "That's just my reflection."

"No! Look harder..." Rafiki advised.

Simba and Mwitu came to take a closer look. Eventually, Simba's reflection faded away as he and Mwitu soon saw an image of Mufasa in the water, looking back at them.

"You see... He lives... In you." Rafiki advised the lion prince.

Suddenly, the area grew dark as Simba was surprised to find his father. Mwitu soon looked at her reflection, seeing a young girl with ginger hair tied into pigtails and a golden earring on her left ear. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like she knew that girl even if she was a wolf and the girl was a human.

"Simba..." A familiar deep voice called out.

"Father...?" Simba muttered as he looked up to the clouds as they formed a shape of a familiar old face.

A ghost soon appeared in the clouds. Along with him was another form that was a female wolf who appeared to have fur as white as snow with crimson eyes who looked to Mwitu. 

"Mufasa... But who's that wolf...?" Mwitu muttered to herself.

"Simba... You have forgotten me..." Mufasa spoke to his son from the other side.

"No... How could I?" Simba replied.

"You have forgotten who you are, and so have forgotten me..." Mufasa told his son. "Look inside yourself, Simba... You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the circle of life."

"How can I go back?" Simba asked. "I'm not who I used to be."

"Remember who you are..." Mufasa advised as more clouds circled around him. "You are my son, and the true king... Remember who you are..."

"You must also remember who you are, Mwitu... Or should I say... Mike Mazinsky?" The wolf then spoke.

"Who are you?" Mwitu asked. "And who is this Mike Mazinsky you speak of?"

"I am Anui... Your inner wolf guardian..." The wolf told the younger, living wolf. 

"Anui... I don't remember you..." Mwitu replied.

"There is a lot that you don't remember... You must help Simba... You are also Michelene Mazinsky," Anui told Mwitu. "You lost your memories when you fell from running away from home where you belong."

Suddenly, the human form of Mike was shown in front of Mwitu and soon fused with the ginger wolf. The two soon meshed together and Mwitu squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, she looked to her front paws to see human hands with fingers and came to the watering hole and saw that she was now human again. She then suddenly remembered what happened before she came into Pride Rock when she met Mufasa, Sarabi, Simba, and Scar, and then became Mwitu.

"I... I remember who I am..." Mike soon said. "I got in a fight with Sarah... Ed's bratty sister. I needed to get away... She was making my life miserable... Then I ended up here."

"That is right, Michelene... Though I will call you Mike now..." Anui told her. "You had to remember who you were along with Simba who must go find himself back at Pride Rock against Scar."

Simba and Mike looked to each other as this was quite surprising for them both. 

"So... You were a human all this time?" Simba asked, though luckily, Mike could still understand him.

"I... I guess so..." Mike replied. "And I can talk to you?"

"Mike, you are a very special person... More special than you know... You and Simba must go to Pride Rock very soon..." Anui advised before she began to fade away with Mufasa.

"NO! Please don't leave me!" Simba cried out, trying to go after his father's spirit. "Father! Don't leave me!"

"Anui, what if I can't do this?!" Mike added.

"Remember..." Anui and Mufasa replied before they both faded into the sky.

Simba and Mike soon stopped running as they had a lot on their minds right now. The sky was then back to normal as Mufasa and Anui faded away from existence.

"What was THAT?!" Rafiki commented. "The weather... Very peculiar, don't you think?"

"Yeah... Looks like the winds are changing..." Simba replied.

"Ah, change is good." Rafiki told them.

"Yeah, but it's not easy," Mike said as she looked all around herself as she was a human again. "I know what we have to do though. Simba, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I believe so," Simba replied. "But going back means we'll have to face our past. We've been running from it for so long."

Rafiki then hit his stick back onto their heads.

"Ow!" Mike and Simba groaned.

"Jeez! What was that for?!" Mike complained.

"It doesn't matter!" Rafiki smiled. "It's in the past."

"Yeah, but it still hurts." Simba said, rubbing his head.

"Ah, yes, the past can hurt..." Rafiki advised. "But the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it."

"Hmm..." Mike paused in thought as that sounded like a very valuable lesson.

Rafiki then tried to hit them again with his stick, but then they ducked down. "Ha! You see?" he then smiled to them. "So what're you going to do?" he then asked.

"First, I'm gonna take your stick." Simba smirked as he grabbed the stick with his teeth and tossed it aside.

"No, no, no, no! Not the stick!" Rafiki cried out, going after it, and as he went after his stick, Simba and Mike were soon running back to the Pridelands. "HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" he then called out.

"WE'RE GOING BACK!" Simba and Mike told him.

"GOOD! GO ON! GET OUT OF HERE!" Rafiki called back before laughing and hooting a bit.

Eliza soon woke up and took out a flashlight out the window, looking very curious of what was going on as she sat up from her side of the Comvee to sleep as everyone else was asleep.

Meanwhile, Timon, Pumbaa, Ghost, Tico, Jana, and Jungle Boy were shown to be asleep. Jana and Jungle Boy slept in their bunk bed while the animals slept in beanbag chairs which were given to them to be used as beds. 

"Hey... Wake up..." Nala whispered as she came into the clubhouse to try to wake up the animals and feral siblings.

Timon woke up, smacking his lips, but then yelled out in terror as he saw Nala. "Jana! Jungle Boy! Predator!" he then cried out.

Pumbaa, Tico, and Ghost soon woke up next. Jungle Boy and Jana groaned before taking out their spears, looking alert to save their animal friends.

"It's okay, it's okay," Nala told them, trying to calm them down. "Whoa, it's okay... It's me."

"It's okay, Timon, it's just Nala." Jana then said, rubbing her eye a bit as it was quite early 

"Don't ever do that again," Timon groaned to the lioness. "Carnivores! Oy!"

"Ahem!" Ghost muttered.

"No offense, Ghost." Timon told the jaguar.

"None taken." Ghost then muttered.

"Have you guys seen Simba and Mwitu?" Nala then asked.

"I thought they were with you?" Jungle Boy replied.

"Yeah, Mwitu said she had to go talk with Simba after sunset." Jana added.

"They were, but now I can't find them," Nala replied. "Where are they?"

"You won't find them here!" Rafiki soon laughed as he came from a window in the clubhouse. "The king has returned." he then told them.

"I can't believe it..." Nala then smiled. "He's gone back. Mwitu must've gone with him."

"Gone back?" Tico asked. "What do you mean?"

Rafiki was soon gone before anything else could had been said or done.

"Hey! What's going on here?!" Timon complained. "WHO'S THE MONKEY?!"

"Simba's gone back to challenge Scar." Nala said.

"Who?" Timon asked.

"Scar." Nala said.

"Who's got a scar?" Pumbaa asked.

"No, no, no, it's his uncle." Nala replied.

"The monkey's his uncle?" Timon asked.

"Ugh, this is getting us nowhere!" Jana complained. "Listen, you guys! Simba's gone back to challenge his Uncle Scar to take his true place as king!"

"Ohhh..." Timon and Pumbaa then said, now understanding.


	9. Chapter 9

Mike and Simba were both seen running. The sun beat down on them as they were running through the dune together to get back to the Pridelands to make things right. It was a bit of a long run, but they were both able to make it because they had each other. Despite Mike technically being a human now, she now knew she had the strength and energy to keep up with Simba so that he could be the lion king instead of Scar. 

"You should probably go in wolf form just to be on the safe side... Nala told me that everyone is starving," Simba warned Mike. "I may not attack you, but it's hard to say with the others."

"Hmm... Understood..." Mike then nodded as she concentrated deep on her power she had since birth and soon morphed back into a ginger colored wolf in order to blend in with the animal atmosphere.

"How do you do that anyway?" Simba asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure how to explain it," Mike shrugged. "I guess I just think about it, and it happens. I've been doing it for a long time now."

"All right then... So, you ready to take down Scar with me?" Simba asked.

"Let's do this." Mike nodded firmly.

Simba nodded back and they soon made it into the Pridelands. Luckily for both of them, the hyenas didn't seem to notice them and took a look around. It seemed very dark, cold, and lonesome, not in a good way at all as it looked deserted and miserable since they had left after Mufasa's death.

"Guys, wait up." A familiar voice called.

Mike and Simba soon turned to see Nala had come to see them.

"It's awful, isn't it?" Nala said to them.

"I didn't want to believe you." Simba replied softly.

"It looks like a worst nightmare come true." Mike added.

"What made you come back?" Nala then asked.

"We finally got some sense knocked into us," Simba chuckled weakly. "We've got the bumps to prove it. Besides, this is my kingdom. If I don't fight for it, who will?"

"I will." Nala replied.

"It's gonna be dangerous." Mike warned the lioness.

"Danger? HA! I laugh in the face of danger!" Nala smirked. "Ha, ha, ha, ha!"

"I see nothing funny about this." Timon remarked from Nala's sarcastic laughter as he soon came with Pumbaa, Jana, Jungle Boy, Tico, and Ghost.

"Guys?" Mike asked them. "What are you doing here?"

"At your service, my liege." Pumbaa said with a loyal bow.

"Oh, brother." Mike playfully rolled her eyes.

"So... We're gonna fight your uncle for this?" Timon asked Simba as he took a look at the dying remains of Pride Rock.

"Yes, Timon," Simba replied. "This is my home."

"Talk about your fixer-upper," Timon commented. "Well, Simba, if it's important to you, we're with you to the end."

"Spoken like a true friend." Tico smiled.

"We're in too then." Ghost added about himself, Jungle Boy, and Jana.

"And I'm here too," Mike said. "I might not be from Pride Rock, but you guys have been like a family to me lately after I left my own home. We're going to avenge Mufasa's death like I avenged my parents' deaths."

"Your parents?" Simba asked. "So you remember about yourself?"

"Yes, it's a very long story, but right now, we have to worry about Scar and the hyenas." Mike replied.

"D-Did she say hyenas?" Timon shivered slightly.

They soon looked out to Pride Rock as it looked like a big storm was about to hit. They soon snuck along and hid away just in case any hyenas were about and sure enough, there were, but they appeared to be sleeping right now and some were gnawing on bones since they didn't have a lot to eat.

"Hyenas... I hate hyenas..." Timon moaned at the sight of the predators.

"Does anyone have a plan on getting past those guys?" Tico asked.

"Live bait." Simba replied.

"Good idea!" Timon beamed before glaring as he knew that had to involve him somehow. "Hey..."

"Come on, Timon," Simba whispered to him. "You guys have to create a diversion."

"Whatya want me to do?!" Timon glared. "Dress up in drag and do the hula?!"

A drum beat was then heard as Timon was in a grass skirt with a flower lei and a flower behind his ears while Pumbaa was lying like a platter with an apple in his mouth. The hyenas began to go for the distraction, looking quite hungry and distracted as Tico and Ghost soon helped Timon and Pumbaa out. 

"That was pretty good." Mike chuckled to herself before the hyenas snarled and went after Timon, Pumbaa, Tico, and Ghost.

"Nala, you find my mother and rally the lionesses with Mike," Simba told his cubhood best friend. "I'll look for Scar."

"You sure you don't want some wolf help?" Mike asked Simba.

"I think I should handle this on my own." Simba replied.

"He made me run away too, Simba, at least let me help in the final fight." Mike said.

"Alright... Stay close to me though." Simba replied.

Mike nodded as Nala soon went off to get the other lionesses.

"SARABI!!!" Scar's voice soon snapped and echoed along the remains of Pride Rock.

Simba and Mike soon looked to see the lion queen, walking along Pride Rock while the hyenas looked at her. She did not feel threatened or intemidated by their stares as she went to see what her brother-in-law had wanted.

"Yes, Scar?" Sarabi then replied once she came to see him.

"Where is your hunting party?" Scar sneered. "They're not doing their job."

"Scar, there's no food," Sarabi told him. "The herds have moved on."

"No! You're just not looking hard enough!" Scar scowled. 

"It's over. There's nothing left. We only have one choice," Sarabi replied. "We must leave Pride Rock."

"We're not going anywhere." Scar glared.

"Then you have sentenced us to death!" Sarabi glared back.

"Then so be it!" Scar glared.

Mike growled to herself, she couldn't believe how much of a tyrant Scar had become. Now she knew why she couldn't trust him in the first place, especially with how he was talking to Sarabi. Sarabi may not had been Mike's mother, but she loved the lioness as such since she first entered Pride Rock as Mwitu. 

"You can't do that!" Sarabi then replied.

"I am the king; I can do whatever I want." Scar defended.

"If you were half the king Mufasa was--" Sarabi was about to retort.

"I WAS TEN TIMES THE KING MUFASA WAS!" Scar snapped as he soon smacked her away with his paw in rage at the mention of his brother.

Both Mike and Simba looked outraged at what Scar had done to Sarabi. Mike especially as she imagined her own mother getting hit and she knew she would not stand for it, even though she was very young when her mother had died with her father. 

"Mufasa... No... You're dead..." Scar said shakily as Simba came over, looking like he had seen a ghost.

Simba and Mike soon stood over Sarabi. Luckily, she wasn't badly hurt, but she seemed to be a little bleary-eyed right now. 

"Mufasa...?" Sarabi asked once she looked up to see the red-maned lion.

"No... It's me..." Simba gently told his mother.

"And he's not alone, Queen Sarabi." Mike added as she came beside the lion.

"Simba... Mwitu... You're both alive?" Sarabi gave a small, delighted smile before looking confused. "But how can that be?"

"It doesn't matter," Simba said before nuzzling his mother. "I'm home."

"Simba? Simba!" Scar replied before giving a small smile before he seemed to look frustrated about something. "I'm a little surprised to see you and your little wolf friend... ALIVE!"

Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed backed away in fear as Simba approached his uncle.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip you apart." Simba scowled.

"Simba, you must understand," Scar smiled innocently. "The pressure of ruling a kingdom--"

"Are no longer yours," Simba glowered. "Step down, Scar."

"Oh, well, I would... Naturally..." Scar replied before pointing above. "However, there is one little problem... You see them?"

Simba and Mike both looked up to see the other hyenas who looked very hungry and a bit insane. 

"They think I'm the king." Scar then continued with what he was saying.

"Well, we don't!" Nala's voice replied as she soon appeared with the other lionesses. "Simba's the rightful king."

"The choice is yours, Scar," Mike glared. "Either step down or fight."

"Oh, must this all end in violence?" Scar replied innocently. "I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a family member. Wouldn't you both agree, Simba and Mwitu?"

"That's not gonna work, Scar," Simba glared. "We've put it behind us."

"Yes, but what about your faithful subjects?" Scar replied. "Have they put it behind them?"

"Simba... What is he talking about?" Nala asked as she became suspicious.

"Ah, so you haven't told them your little secret," Scar then smirked a bit to his grown nephew. "Well, Simba, now's your chance to tell them. Tell them who is responsible for Mufasa's death."

Simba looked like he had millions of thoughts running through his head now. "I am..." he then said.

"No! That's not true!" Mike replied. "Scar, you just framed us so that you could become king!"

"Stay out of this, Wolf! You're not even allowed in this jungle!" Scar glared at her. 

"No... Mike... He's right..." Simba said, unable to respond away from guilt.

The lionesses all looked horrified and distraught over what was going on right now.

"It's not true..." Sarabi said as she approached her son, looking very broken on the inside and out, almost like she could cry. "Tell me it's not true!"

Simba frowned, he hated to disappoint his mother, but he couldn't lie to her, or at least, what he thought was true, so he told her, "It's true..." he then said softly as he was brutally beaten by Scar's next words with almost everyone else turning against him.

"You see? He admits it!" Scar glared as he fed upon Simba's fear and guilt. "MURDERERS!"

"No, we're not murderers!" Mike cried out.

"It was an accident!" Simba added.

"If it weren't for you two, Mufasa would still be alive," Scar continued. "It's YOUR faults he's dead! Do you deny it?"

"No." Simba replied.

"THEN YOU'RE GUILTY!" Scar growled viciously.

"No, we're not murderers!" Simba cried out.

Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed soon came out toward Mike, growling to her.

"You finish the wolf off; I'll handle my nephew." Scar told the hyenas.

The hyenas nodded and soon pursued after Mike.

"Finally, we meet again, our little fast food snack." Banzai grinned.

"This time, you won't get away!" Shenzi smirked.

Ed just added a laugh as he approached the wolf with his friends.

"Come on, you guys, Scar's just using you!" Mike told them. 

"Psh! Like we're gonna listen to you!" Shenzi rolled her eyes. 

"Yeah! We chased you and the lion prince out to make it look like we killed ya when Scar asked us to!" Banzai added.

Shenzi and Ed glanced at him.

"What?" Banzai replied. "She ain't gonna tell nobody once we're done with her!"

"Yeah, you right!" Shenzi smirked. "What's gonna happen?"

A rock was soon thrown and hit her in the head which made Banzai and Ed laugh.

"Okay! Who threw that?!" Shenzi glared.

"Up here, you slobbering poachers!" Jungle Boy called out, making faces and then mooning them as he turned the other way, bending over with his loincloth.

"Hey! It's one of 'em hairless apes that come in the jungle on vacation in those metal, rolling things!" Banzai glared.

"You mean a van?" Mike asked.

"SHUT UP! I know what I meant!" Banzai snapped.

"You go get him then, I'm gonna deal with old Wolfy here." Shenzi said, putting her paw around Mwitu with a smirk.

Banzai and Ed growled and soon went to go after Jungle Boy.

"Oh, well, it sorta worked." Jungle Boy told himself before running off.

"Mm... I wonder what a wolf even tastes like?" Shenzi smirked.

"Listen, uh, Miss Hyena?" Mike replied.

"The name is Shenzi!" The female hyena told her.

"Shenzi. Right. Anyway, Scar's just using you," Mike replied. "Do you really think you're all gonna be pals after this? Why are you hanging around him?"

"Well... Since you're gonna be dead any minute now, I guess I could tell ya," Shenzi shrugged. "See, when Scar was young, they called him Taka and he was the least favorite son of King Ahadi and Queen Uru."

"I guess those were Scar and Mufasa's parents?" Mike guessed.

"Yeah, you got it!" Shenzi replied. "Anyway, Ahadi and Uru just liked Mufasa better and thought he'd better ruler of the Pridelands, so then we met Scar when we were young. We were all kinda unwanted from society, so every once in a while, we'd meet up and hang out, like friends. We tried to ambush him and scare him, 'cuz ya know, lions and hyenas don't get along."

"Like cats and dogs..." Mike guessed.

"Will ya shut up so I can tell my story?!" Shenzi rolled her eyes. "But yeah, back then, Scar told us that his old man was tryin' to find us. We tried to scare him, but he wasn't havin' it. Eh, long story, short, we all became friends."

"That sounds nice..." Mike shrugged.

"Yeah, it was kinda cool to be friends with a lion prince, even if he wasn't gonna grow up to be king like his bigger and better brother, at least that's what Ahadi thought." Shenzi said.

"Hmm... I don't like that Scar killed Mufasa, but I guess I can't blame him for doing what he did..." Mike replied. 

"Anyway, we're all friends now, and I'm hungry, so if I'm gonna eat somebody, it's gonna be you," Shenzi smirked. "A real shame though, I kinda like you now, for a wolf."

"I kinda like you too, Shenzi... For a hyena..." Mike replied.

"Don't get used to it!" Shenzi smirked, shoving Mike aside a bit. "As soon as Banzai and Ed come back, I'm gonna wolf YOU down."

"Ooh, the puns..." Mike replied.

Eventually, the two soon saw as Scar and Simba were at it. 

"SIMBA!" Mike and Nala cried out as Simba was now dangling over the edge of Pride Rock as the storm caused a fire down below and one wrong move could make him fall and burn to death.

"Now... This looks familiar... Where have I seen this before?" Scar smirked to Simba as he dangled. "Let me think... Oh, yes, I remember. This is just the way your father looked before he died."

Simba looked like he was unable to get up. Mike was about to go take down Scar to help Simba out, but Shenzi smirked as she kept her from going anywhere. 

"And here's my little secret..." Scar smirked as he grasped Simba's paws before leaning in and whispering into his nephew's ear. "I... Killed... Mufasa..."

Simba's eyes widened as he thought back to his father's death, now fueled with intense anger, finding the strength to fight back then. "NOOOOOOO!!!" he then yelled out before lunging out and pinning down his uncle now that he knew the truth. "MURDERER!"

"Ooh! He's fired up now!" Shenzi smirked.

"No! Simba! Please!" Scar gasped as he now felt scared.

"Tell them the truth." Simba then demanded.

"Truth?" Scar replied before Simba nearly choked him. "But the truth is in the eye of the behold--GACK! ...Alright... Alright!" he then coughed out before whispering. "I did it."

"So they can hear you." Simba scowled.

"I... KILLED... MUFASA!" Scar soon yelled out.

The lionesses were both shocked and angry as they now knew what really had happened to their fallen king. Shenzi laughed as she kept holding Mike back as the wolf looked very angry and disgusted with Scar. The other hyenas soon piled on Simba which allowed Scar to get away. 

"Get... OFF OF ME!" Mike glared as she soon took down Shenzi.

"Oh, you wanna play, Puppy? Alright! It'll make you all the more appetizing!" Shenzi grinned.

Mike and Shenzi soon began to fight each other. And so began the battle for Pride Rock with mostly Simba against Scar. Mike was getting beaten pretty bad, but she fought back as strong as she could. Jana, Jungle Boy, Timon, Pumbaa, Tico, and Ghost began to help out as best as they could while the hyenas attacked, and even Rafiki joined in on the fight. Mike was bitten by Shenzi and she let out a pained howl. Shenzi groaned and covered her ears in annoyance as the sound sounded louder than a typical wolf howl.

Meanwhile, Tico and Timon were shown to be running off from Banzai and Ed. 

"Let me out! Let me out!" Zazu cried out as he was shown to be trapped in a rib cage that was like an actual cage for him.

"Let us in! Let us in!" Timon and Tico cried out as they soon ran in beside the hornbill as the other hyenas came for them. 

The hyenas soon hungrily approached the meerkat, possum, and the hornbill. 

"PLEASE don't eat us!" Tico begged. 

Pumbaa soon arrived at the cave door, looking firm and serious for once, letting out a snort. The hyenas soon turned to see the warthog.

"Hey, who's the pig?" Banzai asked.

"Are you talking to me?" Pumbaa glared.

"Uh-oh, they called him a pig." Timon said.

"Are you talking to me?!" Pumbaa repeated.

"They shouldn't have done that!" Tico added.

"Are you talking to ME?!" Pumbaa scowled sharply.

"Now they're in for it." Timon and Tico concluded.

"THEY CALL ME MIS-TER PIG!" Pumbaa snapped and soon charged toward the hyenas, bowling them over like a ball against some pins.

The hyenas soon ran out of the cave as Pumbaa rough-handled them. Ghost soon helped Timon, Tico, and Zazu out of the cage before Timon and Pumbaa hooted together in victory like a certain talk show host. However, something amazing happened just as Shenzi was about to finish off Mike once and for all. There were other howls heard and Shenzi soon looked over to see other wolves.

"Other wolves... In Pride Rock..." Mike said softly.

"What the--?!" Shenzi glared. "Where did you guys come from?!"

"We heard a distress call," The white wolf spoke up, coming forth. "They call me Kiba."

The other wolves then came beside Kiba's sides, defending him as they growled at the female hyena. 

"Who are you guys?" Mike asked.

"We'll explain that later," The gray wolf replied. "We're here to help you."

"As a fellow wolf of course." Another wolf added.

"Now... You better step down... If you know what's good for you." The red wolf who was the final wolf demanded.

Shenzi soon laughed at them. "Or else what?" she then mocked. "Ya gonna howl at me to death?"

The four wolves narrowed their eyes and soon attacked the hyena to help protect Mike, almost like a family. Mike backed up a bit for her own protection.

"Now why can't the Cartoon Cartoon Fridays gang do that for me?" Mike sighed. "I guess they don't really care about me... They didn't even try to find me..."

"Cartoon Cartoon Fridays?" Eliza asked as she came to the wolf from a safe corner. "What do you mean, Mwitu? You're not from Cartoon Network City."

"Actually, I am." Mike told her before changing back into her human form.

"Mike Mazinsky..." Eliza muttered in surprise. "That's why your voice sounded familiar."

"Simba and I know who we are now and that's why we came back to save Pride Rock," Mike told her. "If Cartoon Network City really cared about me, they would've come back for me."

"Well, do they know that you ended up in Africa?" Eliza reminded.

"Well... No... But..." Mike muttered.

"Then how could they come and find you?" Eliza continued. "You just ran away from home. I never expected you to do that, even when times got tough or when we met in Nicktropolis at the Nicktoons Summer Beach House. Mike, you can't let your past bother you."

"I... I guess that's true..." Mike replied. "Rafiki told me that... Mufasa's death... Running away from home... I'm sorry, Eliza, it's just... Sarah was driving me crazy... I wanted to get out of the city."

"Then why don't you come to the Serengeti with me and my family?" Eliza soon suggested. "I want you to let the people in Cartoon Network City though who do care about you where you are though. Write a letter to them. They're probably worried sick."

"I guess I could..." Mike replied. "You'd let me come with you and your family though?"

"Mike, ever since you became mine and Reggie's roommate in the beach house, I've wanted to get to know you," Eliza replied. "I know I wasn't there much, but I have a tough life too."

"Yeah, but your dad's famous." Mike reminded.

"That might be so, but I talk to animals, and no one else is really supposed to know about it, not even my own family outside of Darwin," Eliza told her. "We travel all over the world... I've never had a real friend stay with me long enough except for maybe Darwin."

"Gosh... I guess that is a little rough..." Mike then said. 

"You see, Mike? You may be an orphan or not have a family back home, but you have friends who love and care about you like your own family," Eliza said. "Those wolves seem to really like you too. Do you know them?"

"No... I don't recognize them..." Mike shook her head. "Ugh... You should get out of here though. This is no place for an innocent human."

"I thought you were probably in trouble, so that's why I came," Eliza said. "I'd just like to have another friend on the trip with me since Mom and Dad said she could invite Drake, Josh, and Tuesday."

"...Who're they?" Mike asked, not recognizing those names. 

"Tuesday is one of Debbie's old friends from before Dad got his nature show, and Drake and Josh are their boyfriends..." Eliza said before blushing a bit. "I wish I could have a boyfriend."

"Heh... Maybe sometime..." Mike replied. "I'm pretty close with Otto Rocket these days ever since I ended up in Nicktropolis by accident. I feel bad for leaving Eddy like that, but I feel closer with Otto."

"I guess that's alright... Not sure how to help you out with that," Eliza said. "Just promise me you'll tell your Cartoon Network family where you are. I'm sure if even though they feel like they don't care anymore, they care a whole lot right about now."

"All right, I will." Mike replied.

"So you'll come to the other jungle with me and the family?" Eliza asked.

"Yes... Just get safe." Mike told her.

"I will... Thanks, Mike." Eliza said before running off before any other animals would see her.

"No problem, Eliza." Mike said softly.

Eliza then went off. Mike cracked a small smile as the new wolves helped her out against the hyenas, though she had to wonder who they were and where they came from. Eventually, she saw Simba who was soon looking around for Scar in order to confront him once and for all. Simba snarled as he chased after his uncle as the flames seemed to grow bigger and more intense from his rage for the older lion for killing his father. Scar soon found a dead end with a long way down among the roaring flames down below.

"Murderer..." Simba growled as he soon came towards his uncle.

"Simba, Simba, please, please have mercy," Scar grinned nervously to his grown nephew. "I beg you." 

"You don't deserve to live..." Simba sneered.

"Simba, I... Oh... I am family..." Scar said as he broke down nervously. "It's the hyenas who are the real enemy. It was their fault. It was their idea."

Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed soon overheard that as the wolves soon stopped attacking them as it seemed they needed to hear that. Mike could now tell that the hyenas were innocent for once, even if Shenzi tried to kill her moments before. 

"Why should I believe you?" Simba growled to Scar still. "Everything you told me was a lie."

"What are you going to do?" Scar asked nervously. "You wouldn't kill your own uncle..."

"No, Scar," Simba replied as he knew that wouldn't help anything. "I'm not like you."

"Oh, Simba, thank you. You are truly noble," Scar said in strong relief. "I'll make it up to you, I promise. And how can I prove myself to you?" he then asked. "Tell me anything."

"Run..." Simba soon said, using Scar's words against him. "Run away, Scar, and never return..."

"Yes... Of course... As you wish..." Scar said as he looked like he was going then, before striking some flares with his paw against Simba's eyes. "YOUR MAJESTY!"

Simba groaned out in pain as he was temporarily blind. Scar then took that time to attack Simba, but once Simba could see again, he began to fight back. Mike looked between her fingertips as she covered her eyes slightly from the brawl between Scar and Simba.

"The wolf brat was right all along!" Shenzi glared.

"She was?" Banzai asked.

"Yeah! She said Scar was usin' us!" Shenzi replied before looking around, not finding Mwitu, obviously not knowing that the wolf and Mike were the same entity. "Wolf Kid, wherever you are... Thank you."

"You're welcome." Mike whispered.

The other wolves soon backed off of the hyenas, coming toward Mike, and they seemed to change into human forms themselves since Mike was in hers. The white wolf became a very handsome and very attractive young man with medium brown hair and icy, sky-blue eyes, wearing a white shirt, a grey/black jacket with rolled sleeves, blue jeans, and black and white sneakers. The Mexican wolf was shown to be wearing a mustard yellow short-sleeve jacket over a long sleeved dark grey T-shirt, pale green (almost grey) sweatpants, and a pair of dark grey sneakers, also wearing a leather collar around his neck that has a metal plate inscribed with the letter "X". The gray wolf was tall and relatively muscular young man with cropped silver hair that he ties back in a small ponytail, wearing one stud earring in his right ear and two hoops in the left, one larger than the other, wearing tight, black leather that exposed his belly, the sleeves partially ripped off. Finally, the red wolf had a rather effeminate face, neck-length, reddish-brown hair parted on the side. His eyes were a light, golden brown, wearing a faded, red zipper shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows (when putting his arms around his back, it exposes his stomach), olive-green cargo pants and dark green, military boots.

"Are... Are you guys werewolves too...?" Mike asked them in shock.

"We will explain later..." The white wolf told her. "We heard your howl which was unlike many other wolves. We knew you had to be one of us."

"I have a lot of questions." Mike replied.

"We'll tell you later... Maybe you could even be apart of our pack if you feel that much different about your home life..." The red wolf suggested.

"Uh... Actually, guys... I think I'm gonna hang out with my buddy Eliza Thornberry for a while... I'd love to see you again though..." Mike said to them. "Maybe in the near future?"

"Maybe..." The Mexican wolf cracked a small smile. "We'll tell you more later."

Mike gave a very small, though still visible smile back to him. "...That sounds good." she then said softly.

Eventually, Scar was lunged away from Simba, plummeting down from Pride Rock and now onto the ground. He soon slowly got up to his feet and smiled softly once he saw the hyenas. "Ah... My friends..." he then said to them.

"Friends?" Shenzi laughed. "I thought he said we were the enemy!"

"Yeah! That's what I heard!" Banzai added, much to Scar's fear and horror.

"Ed...?" Shenzi and Banzai then both grinned to their friend.

Ed laughed a bit darkly and evilly as he looked hungry enough to eat Scar. The other hyenas soon gathered around toward Scar as he was now on his own. 

"No, you don't understand!" Scar cried out, but the hyenas weren't having it, and they soon attacked him, beginning to devour him. "NO! I DIDN'T MEAN IT!"

The hyenas laughed and began to attack Scar as the flames engulfed them all, and that would be the last anyone would ever hear from Scar. Also finally, the hyenas got to eat something at long last. Jana covered Jungle Boy's eyes as they backed up a bit, both looking a bit scarred and hurt from the Pride Rock battle, but of course nothing severe. They both then smiled as they reunited with Tico and Ghost, all glad for each other for still being alive.


	10. Chapter 10

As Scar was gone and defeated, rain soon appeared to sprinkle down to wash away the fire. It seemed to be the first rainfall since Mike and Simba left Pride Rock after Mufasa's death. Everyone began to emerge from the rain as things were going to be alright in the Pridelands from now on. Simba soon came down to see everyone, carrying Mike on his back as she was in her human form as the rain dripped from their hair and fur.

"Here comes Simba!" Jana pointed out.

"Oh, thank goodness." Tico said in relief.

"And there's Mike!" Ghost added.

Sarabi smiled as she and the other lionesses came to see Simba and Mike once things were alright now. Sarabi soon nuzzled up against Simba before the same soon happened with him and Nala. 

"Hey, look over there, everybody!" Jungle Boy soon pointed out as he saw a certain baboon.

Rafiki soon emerged from Pride Rock. Simba knelt down to allow Mike to get off as she stood up, a little wobbly, but sat down on a rock as she felt a little better now. Once she was down, he soon came towards Pride Rock, smiling to Rafiki who then bowed to him before getting hugged by the new lion king of the jungle. 

"It is time." Rafiki proudly told Simba.

Simba smiled to him and soon ascended onto Pride Rock. The lionesses and other animals looked up as Simba approached the rock and looked up into the Heavens.

"Remember..." A familiar deep voice told Simba.

Simba thought about that for a moment before smiling and letting out a roar in victory after defeating his evil uncle. The lionesses soon roared back as peace was now restored into the Pridelands and they would continue living in their great circle of life with Simba in charge like his father before him.

Some time had passed. The storm stopped, the grass was a luscious green, and life had been brought back into Pride Rock. The Thornbery family was seen getting ready for their next travel spot as they loaded up the Comvee.

"Uh, Mom?" Eliza spoke up. "Can one of my friends come with us to the Serangetti?" 

"A friend?" Marianne blinked.

"You made a friend?" Debbie asked her sister in disbelief.

"Uh, I met her at the beach house," Eliza explained, trying to cover up some truthful facts about Mike. "She was traveling with her own family, but they said it would be okay if she could come with us."

"Well... If you've made a friend, and it's alright with her family, I guess she could come along." Nigel replied.

"You have got to be kidding me." Debbie mumbled.

"Darwin and I will go find her." Eliza said, taking her best chimp friend.

"Alright, Eliza, you go get your friend," Marianne replied. "I guess it's alright if it's okay with her family."

"What family?" Debbie asked. "I thought we were the only people here!"

Donnie soon chattered, running off with her cell phone.

"DONNIE!" Debbie snapped and soon chased after him in frustration.

Marianne and Nigel soon continued to keep getting ready while their children were busy with other things right now.

"I can't believe they bought it, but I'm glad they did." Eliza beamed.

"I just hope Mike doesn't try to eat me." Darwin said, remembering Mike's wolf transformation.

"Oh, Darwin, Mike wouldn't eat one of her friends." Eliza replied.

The animals of the jungle began to celebrate in Pride Rock as things seemed to be happy and back to normal. Mike was shown to be on Pride Rock with Simba, Nala, Jana, Jungle Boy, Timon, Pumbaa, Tico, and Ghost as things were wrapping up nicely. 

"I couldn't have done it without you, Mike." Simba smiled.

"Oh, it was nothing," Mike smiled back. "I don't know when yet, but I think I should come back to Pride Rock sometime."

"That would be nice," Nala replied. "We'll look forward to it. And so will the newest member of the pride."

Mike seemed to beam a bit from that as it told her one thing. Zazu soon flew out to join them as they looked down to all of the other animals below on the ground. 

"See, Zazu? Simba's the rightful king." Mike smiled to the hornbill.

"That's right." Zazu smiled back.

Simba and Nala soon nuzzled each other. Rafiki soon came over between the lion couple and brought out a brand new cub who was the child of Simba and Nala who had a big, bright future ahead of them. 

"And who do we have here?" Mike smiled.

"This is our son," Simba replied. "Kopa."

"Kopa... That's a nice name..." Mike said.

Rafiki then lowered Kopa to let Mike take a look.

"You know, Mike, since you were like a sister to me during this adventure, maybe you'd like to be Kopa's aunt?" Simba offered.

"Me? An aunt...?" Mike sounded touched.

"It was just a thought..." Nala smiled. "But we would love it. Especially if you come back someday."

"Oh, thank you, Simba and Nala," Mike smiled back as she gently pet Kopa, making the cub giggle, feeling tickled. "I'd love that very much."

Eliza and Darwin soon came over. 

"Aww... A new lion cub..." Eliza smiled.

"His name is Kopa." Simba told Eliza.

"That's a wonderful name," Eliza smiled. "Uh, I'd hate to interrupt this moment, but Mike's going to be coming with us to mine and my family's next destination."

"Oh... Alright..." Nala said. "Take care, Mike."

"I will..." Mike nodded before going to Eliza.

Eventually, the Thornberry Comvee was all loaded up and Mike was now joining the family on the road. Debbie growled over to Donnie in sheer annoyance. Nigel and Marianne were about to ask Mike about herself, but the tomboy had fallen asleep due to a very long journey. Jungle Boy and Jana waved goodbye as they went to stay in the jungle since that was their home, even if they were humans, but considered themselves as part of the animal kingdom since they had been there for so long. They soon left Africa and were on their way to their next destination. Mike was writing out a letter to send over to Cartoon Network City when she would get the chance. 

"So, how're Drake, Josh, and Tuesday gonna get to the next jungle with us?" Mike asked.

"A helicopter's going to bring them over," Eliza replied. "I just hope Debbie and Tuesday don't make me watch them making out with Drake and Josh all the time. I swear, every time we visit for Nickmas, they do that."

"Every time you visit for what...?" Mike asked.

"What?" Eliza replied. "Nickmas?"

"Yeah... That..." Mike said. "Don't you mean Christmas?"

"No, it's Nickmas in Nicktropolis," Eliza replied. "Oh, I guess you wouldn't know since you're from CN City."

"Nickmas... That's an interesting name, but as long as you celebrate the holidays..." Mike shrugged. "I don't think I've seen your family before, Eliza."

"I wouldn't imagine so," Eliza said. "It's your average family. I've got a mom, a dad, and a sister. Darwin, you know of course, we found him. And Donnie? Well, he found us."

Donnie soon ran all around, babbling to himself.

"He seems to live in his own little world." Mike commented.

"He is a bit of a wild child." Eliza nodded about her younger brother.

"So, where's your house?" Mike then asked.

"Actually, the Comvee is our house now," Eliza explained. "Because we travel all over the world." 

"All over the world?" Mike asked. "That sounds pretty nifty."

"It can be sometimes," Eliza replied. "You see, my dad hosts his own nature show, and my mom shoots it."

"Average family, huh?" Mike smirked playfully then.

"Okay, so we're not that average..." Eliza then said.

"So... The animal talking thing?" Mike asked.

"Shh!" Eliza said, covering Mike's mouth and looked over.

Luckily, no one else in the family seemed to hear what the two girls were talking about. 

"Well, I rescued this warthog, but he was actually a magical shaman," Eliza then explained to Mike. "And now I can talk to animals. It's really cool, but totally secret. And you know what? Life's never been the same."

"I can imagine," Mike replied. "I know all about secrets... Especially my wolf thing."

"Does anyone else in your family do that?" Eliza asked.

"Honestly, Eliza, I don't know," Mike replied. "I don't really know anything about my parents, where I came from, or anything... No one else seems to know, not even Weasel, and he's our president."

"Hmm... Interesting..." Eliza said. 

"Looks like we got a long ride ahead of us... I wonder if I'll ever see those wolf people I ran into again..." Mike said before yawning a bit.

"Maybe... No one knows what the future will bring..." Eliza said. "You get some sleep. These trips will take a lot out of you."

"Tell me about it." Mike agreed before turning over to get some sleep.

"Night, Mike." Eliza said softly.

"Good night, Eliza." Mike replied.

The two girls then fell fast asleep. Little did they know though, they would be in for a brand new adventure once they would wake up in the next jungle. Once Mike fell asleep, she saw dreams about a cheetah cub being taken away from his family, though she wasn't sure what it meant. At least, not right now.

The End


End file.
